Nokia lays off 120 people in Cluj. R&D projects will be ‘completely diminished”

Nokia announced that it will axe 120 positions in Romania, in line with the company’s global strategy to cut down on its labor force and consolidate its operations. The company also announced that the R&D center in Cluj, which is located in the Olympia Business Center, will be affected.

“Nokia estimates that by the end of the third quarter of 2011, the current projects developed in this location will be completely diminished. R&D operations will continue to be developed in other Nokia centers on the globe. We estimate 120 people will be affected. No changes are planned to take place in the Nokia plant in Jucu,” says the company in an official press release.

In total, Nokia will lay off 4,000 people globally by the end of 2012, most lay-offs being planned to take place in Denmark, Finland and Great Britain.

These measures are part of the proposed aim to cut down unaudited IFRS operational expenses by EUR 1 billion in the division of Services and Devices for the entire year 2013, compared to 2010.

Also, Nokia announced that it intends to develop a strategic collaboration with Accenture which will see the transfer of the of the Symbian software development activities, as well as an additional 3,000 employees of Nokia, to Accenture.

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“In Nokia, we have clear goals regarding the way in which we will move forward, which will see us regain and consolidate our position of leader on the segment of intelligent devices, mobile handsets and the strategy to minimize interruptions at the level of our operations. However, due to this new strategy, we will have to make a reduction in our workforce,” said Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia.

Otilia Haraga