Nokia to cut 3,500 jobs in Romania, Germany, US before 2013

HELSINKI—The world’s largest mobile phone maker Nokia said Thursday it planned to cut 3,500 jobs in Romania, Germany and the United States by the end of 2012.

“Nokia plans to close its manufacturing facilities in Cluj, Romania, by the end of 2011 … and plans to close its (locations and commerce development) operations in Bonn, Germany and Malvern, US,” by the end of next year, the Finnish company said in a statement.

These cuts are in addition to the 4,000 job cuts and 3,000 outsourced jobs the company announced in April as part of a massive restructuring effort.

The company also hinted at more job cuts next year, saying that it would review the long-term role of its factories in Salo, Finland; Komarom, Hungary; and Reynosa, Mexico and adding it expected to have more details “into the possible headcount impacts” at these sites in 2012.

“We must take painful, yet necessary, steps to align our workforce and operations with our path forward,” chief executive Stephen Elop said in the statement.

The reductions are part of Elop’s radical restructuring plan, announced in February, which included abandoning the company’s Symbian smartphone platform, closing a number of sites globally, re-organizing business and development units, and streamlining management.

When Elop revealed in April that these changes would result in 4,000 job cuts, he said the company had no plans to cut more jobs further down the line, adding this was the “full plan for as far as we can see into the future.”

Nokia’s new strategy marks a radical effort to stop the haemorrhaging of its market share to RIM’s Blackberry, Apple’s iPhone and handsets running Google’s Android platform.

The former undisputed world leader saw its market share fall to around 23 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to analysts, compared with a peak of 40 percent in the first half of 2008.