Nokia to cut staff as it focuses Salo plant on smartphones
The planned new focus for Salo is expected to affect a maximum of 285 employees involved in production and in related support functions at the western Finland location.
By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- EDN, February 8, 2010
Finland-based Nokia is planning to cut up to 285 employees as it realigns the operating mode of its Salo plant to focus on the high-value smartphone market, especially in Europe.
In the company’s statement today, Nokia said the key drivers for a new operating mode in the plant are diverse customer requirements, faster deliveries in high-end mobile device manufacturing, and the company's move toward a solution-driven offering. The plans will result in the introduction of new and highly specialized manufacturing methods, Nokia said, as well as the changes to personnel at the facility.
The planned new focus for Salo is expected to affect a maximum of 285 employees involved in production and in related support functions at the western Finland location. Today, Nokia's Salo facility employs approximately 2200 people.
Nokia said it will find new positions within its company for as many employees as possible. The handset maker also said it plans to stop currently ongoing rotational temporary layoffs at the Salo plant by the end of June 2010.
"Salo is a crucial part of Nokia's global manufacturing network,” Juha Putkiranta, senior VP of markets at Nokia, in the statement. “Plans involving changes to employees are always painful, and they are set in motion only after thorough consideration. However, with these plans our aim is to ensure the plant's future competitiveness and its special role as one best suited to the production of high value mobile devices.”
Nokia has a mobile-device manufacturing network made up of 10 manufacturing sites in nine countries - Brazil, China, Finland, Hungary, India, Mexico, Romania, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
