Nokia plans to eliminate 4,000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting effort that will see much of its manufacturing shift to Asia. The cuts will be made across three Nokia plants — 2,300 workers will be shed in Komarom, Hungary, 700 will lose their jobs in Reynosa, Mexico and 1,000 more in Salo, Finland will be laid off. Each of the three plants will continue to operate at reduced capacities, and the move is part of a larger effort to cut costs following the €1 billion loss Nokia reported last quarter. ”Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” Nokia EVP of Markets Niklas Savander said in a statement. “We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition.” Nokia’s full press release follows below.

Nokia plans changes to its manufacturing operations to increase efficiency in smartphone production

Nokia Corporation
Stock exchange release
February 8, 2012 at 10:00 (CET +1)

Espoo, Finland – Nokia has today announced planned changes at its factories in Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland. The measures follow a review of smartphone manufacturing operations that Nokia announced last September and aim to increase the company’s competitiveness in the diverse global mobile device market.

These three factories are planned to focus on smartphone product customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas. Device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based.

“With the planned changes, our factories at Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will continue to play an important role serving our smartphone customers. They give us a unique ability to both provide customization and be more responsive to customer needs,” said Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice president, Markets.

“Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” said Savander. “We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition.”

As a consequence of the plans, the number of steps in manufacturing and the amount of work carried out at the sites in Komarom, Reynosa and Salo are expected to decrease substantially. The changes are anticipated to impact approximately 4,000 employees in total.

Personnel reductions are planned to be phased through the end of 2012. Nokia will offer a comprehensive locally-tailored support program, including financial support and assistance with local re-employment.

Yahoo has frozen its hiring process and may even consider layoffs according to a new report. The news was revealed by AllThingsD on Thursday, which wrote that the choices were made ahead of expected weak fourth quarter earnings. Yahoo isn’t considering mass layoffs, however; instead, AllThingsD said they are likely to be “small and selective” if they happen at all. Yahoo experienced a bit of turmoil earlier this week when co-founder, former CEO and board member Jerry Yang resigned from the company. AllThingsD said other board members may be considering leaving the company, too. Yahoo will report its fourth quarter earnings next Tuesday.

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After Nokia and Siemens failed to sell Nokia Siemens Networks, the joint venture announced on Wednesday that it will cut 17,000 jobs around the globe by 2013 as part of a restructuring move that will focus on services and mobile broadband. “Our goal is to provide the world’s most efficient mobile networks, the intelligence to maximize the value of those networks, and the services capability to make it all work seamlessly,” Nokia Siemens CEO Rajeev Suri said. “Despite the need to restructure parts of our company, our commitment to research and development remains unchanged, with investment in mobile broadband expected to increase over the coming years.” In addition to the layoffs, Nokia Siemens will cut production overhead and operating expenses by 1 billion Euros per year by 2013, Forbes said. The company explained that the savings is largely expected to come from organizational streamlining but that it will also look to save money in real estate costs, administrative expenses, information technology and more. The layoffs will be a result of site consolidation, moving activities to global centers and the “elimination of the company’s matrix organizational structure.”

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Motorola Mobility will spend $31 million as it lays off 800 employees ahead of its planned acquisition by Google, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Motorola said in a regulatory filing that it would spend $27 million in employee severance and an additional $4 million closing a number of existing facilities. “Motorola Mobility continues to focus on improving its financial performance by taking actions to manage the company’s costs,” company spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson told Bloomberg. Google announced its intentions to purchase Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion on August 15th. Google CEO Larry Page said the acquisition would provide Google with patents that will help the company defend its Android partners in lawsuits with Microsoft, Apple and others.

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HP said earlier this year that it was planning to kill off its webOS hardware business, and reports suggested it was planning to sell the division to another company or that it might use the mobile operating system for smaller side projects. The Guardian reported on Friday that HP may kill off the division entirely and terminate as many as 500 employees who work with webOS. “There’s a 95% chance we all get laid off between now and November, and I for one am thinking it’s for the best,” an anonymous HP employee reportedly told The Guardian. HP has not pulled the trigger yet, however, and if its 180-degree turnaround on a decision to keep its PSG business as part of the company is any indication, we won’t know the webOS verdict until new CEO Meg Whitman hammers the final nail in its coffin or announced that it will be reborn. 

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Nokia announced on Thursday that it will “continue to align its workforce and operations” by reducing its headcount by roughly 3,500 workers. This new round of personnel reductions is in addition to earlier cuts announced this past April, and it will take effect by the end of next year. Approximately 2,200 of the laid off workers will come from the closure of Nokia’s factory in Cluj, Romania, which began operations in 2008, and another 1,300 cuts will take place within the company’s Location & Commerce unit. “We are seeing solid progress against our strategy, and with these planned changes we will emerge as a more dynamic, nimble and efficient challenger,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement. “We must take painful, yet necessary, steps to align our workforce and operations with our path forward.” Nokia’s full press release follows below.

Nokia continues to align its workforce and operations

Published September 29, 2011

HP will lay off as many as 525 employees from its Palm division this week AllThingsD reported on Tuesday. HP killed off its webOS mobile operating system in mid-August when it also announced it would discontinue the development of webOS devices such as the TouchPad and Palm Pre family of smartphones. “As part of this decision, the webOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce,” an HP spokesperson explained. “Today’s actions are part of this initiative. During this time, we stand by our commitment to our webOS customers and will work to ensure that support and service for customers are not adversely affected. HP is exploring ways to leverage webOS software.”

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On Thursday, reports surfaced suggesting LG was laying off 30% of its mobile business workers overseas. The firm denied the rumors on Friday, however, stating “We are always looking at opportunities to improve the performance of our mobile business but no decision has been made as to any job reductions,” according to Reuters. Korea Economic Daily said on Thursday that LG was letting go of 30% of its mobile employees in an attempt to turn around its struggling mobile business, and LG said the report was simply “speculation.” The article also said the Korean-based company had plans to begin domestic layoffs in the near future.

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LG has cut 30% of its overseas mobile staff as a result of the division’s recent poor performance, Reuters reported on Thursday. Korea Economic Daily broke the news and noted LG’s layoffs mostly included employees in the purchases and mobile marketing departments, and in unprofitable groups. LG said the Korea Economic Daily report was speculation, but the Korean news outlet noted that LG is planning to layoff members of its mobile business team in Korea, too. LG’s mobile business grew during the second quarter of this year but the division still failed to turn a profit. The mobile arm reported a $49.8 million loss on sales of $3 billion last quarter.

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Nokia Siemens Networks announced on Friday that it will begin to layoff 1,500 of its employees. The affected staff are part of its WiMAX and GSM divisions, and a spokesperson told Reuters that many of the employees were originally brought on as part of NSN’s infrastructure purchase from Motorola. In March, Nokia Siemens Networks tried to renegotiate the $1.2 billion deal with Motorola to leave the GSM division out of the purchase. Nokia Siemens has had trouble trying to record a profit and its two parent companies, Nokia and Siemens, recently ditched an effort to sell the joint venture.

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Research In Motion will lay off 2,000 of its employees, or about 10% of its total workforce, as part of a cost optimization program. “The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone,” the company said in a statement. The BlackBerry maker is also reorganizing several of its top management positions. RIM’s company statement does not mention any changes to the Co-CEO and Co-Chairman roles held by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. RIM recently lost several executives, including the Vice President of digital marketing and media and the BlackBerry PlayBook senior product manager, to competitors including Samsung. Read on for the full press release.

Research In Motion Provides Management Update and Details On Cost Optimization Program

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today provided an update on changes in responsibilities amongst the company’s senior management team, as well as additional details about the cost optimization program announced on June 16th.  The changes described below are intended to create greater alignment of the organization and to streamline RIM’s operations in order to better position the company for future growth and profitability.

Senior Management Update
Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of COO, Product and Sales. All product engineering functions, including both hardware and software teams, are being consolidated under Thorsten’s direction. This consolidation of product engineering functions is expected to both produce greater efficiencies and help to accelerate new product introductions in the future.

After more than ten years of success overseeing sales and country operations for RIM in various regions including North America, Asia Pacific and EMEA most recently, Patrick Spence is taking on the role of Managing Director, Global Sales and Regional Marketing. Patrick will report to Thorsten Heins and will work with Thorsten to tightly couple the execution of product development and regional business operations around the world, enable faster local execution tailored to local market needs and support the needs of RIM’s valued operator and distribution partners.

Robin Bienfait is maintaining her responsibilities as CIO, including BlackBerry Operations, Customer Service and Corporate IT functions, and also taking on responsibility for the Enterprise Business Unit focused on delivering outstanding customer service and extending RIM’s leadership in the enterprise sector.

David Yach, in his role as CTO, Software, will focus on current and future software platforms, as well as the surrounding developer and application ecosystem.

Jim Rowan is taking on the expanded role of COO, Operations and will continue to be responsible for manufacturing, global supply chain and repair services. As part of the streamlining effort and drive towards greater operational efficiencies, he will also now oversee the Organizational Development and Facilities Management functions.

Brian Bidulka, RIM’s CFO, is working together with Jim Rowan in overseeing the Cost Optimization Program which is currently underway.

Cost Optimization Program
In addition to the management changes outlined above, RIM today provided further details on its cost optimization program, which is focused on eliminating redundancies and reallocating resources to focus on areas that offer the highest growth opportunities and alignment with RIM’s strategic objectives.  The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.

As part of this broad effort, RIM is reducing its global workforce across all functions by approximately 2,000 employees. RIM intends to notify impacted employees in North America and certain other countries this week. The remainder of the global workforce reductions will occur at a later date subject to local laws and regulations.  All impacted employees will receive severance packages and outplacement support.

The size of this workforce reduction is in line with the preliminary estimate that was factored into RIM’s full year financial guidance on June 16, 2011.  Following the completion of the workforce reduction, RIM’s global workforce is expected to be approximately 17,000 people.  Additional information about the financial impact of this workforce reduction and other operating expense reductions will be communicated when the company reports Q2 results on September 15, 2011. As explained on June 16, 2011, any one-time charges associated with the cost optimization program are not included in RIM’s Q2 and full year outlook, but will be identified and disclosed on September 15, 2011.

Cisco announced on Tuesday that it will layoff 9% of its workforce, or 6,500 jobs, in an effort to boost profits. That figure is lower than original speculation that the company would cut 10,000 employees. Cisco made the move as part of an effort to cut $1 billion in annual costs while spurring profit growth, Bloomberg reported. 2,100 of the 6,500 employees have agreed to an early-retirement program. Additionally, Cisco plans to sell a Juarez, Mexico-based manufacturing facility to Foxconn. The move will transfer 5,000 workers elsewhere but will not result in job cuts. Earlier this year, the company laid-off 550 additional employees when it announced that it was killing off its Flip camera arm in an effort to restructure its consumer business.

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Cisco could cut as many as 10,000 jobs — 14% of the company’s employees — in an effort to boost profits, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. 3,000 Cisco employees accepted buyouts and early retirement packages, which will cost Cisco between $500 and $1.1 billion during the fourth quarter. While the layoff plans aren’t final, 7,000 more jobs could be cut by the end of August. The move comes as analysts predict that Cisco’s router and switches business will continue to slide into next year, and the company believes the job cuts could save it as much as $1 billion during 2012. “We will provide additional detail on the cost reductions, including layoffs, on our next earnings call,” Cisco spokesperson Karen Tillman said. The call is scheduled for early August. On April 12th, Cisco announced that it was restructuring its consumer business and killing off its Flip video camera arm. 

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According to AllThingsD Specific Media has acquired Myspace from News Corp. for $35 million. Reportedly, Myspace’s CEO, Mike Jones, will remain for “an interim period,” and the social network will lay off half of its staff, or about 200 people. Myspace, which has seen a sharp decline in traffic over the years since it was acquired by News Corp in 2005 for $580 million, announced in January that it was laying off 47% of its employees. News Corp. will maintain less than a 5% stake in the company.

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Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion has begun laying off workers according to a report from a local newspaper on Tuesday. The Waterloo Region Record reports RIM has already begun reducing its staff, though there is no word on how many employees have been let go at this point. Last week, RIM reported a weak first quarter and poor fiscal 2012 guidance that sent investors running for the door. RIM’s Co-CEOs also confirmed on an earnings call that the company would be reducing its workforce, though no time frame was provided, and that the launches of several upcoming BlackBerry devices have been delayed. Shares of RIM stock have fallen more than 25% since the company reported its earnings last week, and it is down more than 50% so far this year.

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