Nokia has confirmed a Reuters report that it plans to make significant cuts to its Alcatel-Lucent International operations in France. Subsequent reports (such as this one in Telecoms.com) put the number of people expect to lose their jobs at approximately 1,233.
The Finland-based communications technology supplier had pledge to the French government that it wouldn’t cut jobs in France-based Alcatel-Lucent for five years as part of its agreement to acquire the company in 2015 (see “Nokia pulls trigger on Alcatel-Lucent buy”). That moratorium is set to expire, and Nokia is positioning the layoffs as part of an overall cost-reduction effort announced last October. The majority of people who will be affected are believed to work in R&D in the company’s Nozay (Paris-Saclay) and Lannion facilities, according to a blog post from the CFE-CGE union that represents Nokia workers in France. The layoffs will affect 402 employees at Lannion – a total the union estimates represents half of the employees who work there currently – and another 831 in Nozay.
“It is only a low-cost strategy that is being implemented, contrary to all the commitments made by Nokia in France. Nokia makes fun of everyone, and in the first place of the French government,” reads the blog. “The actions of the inter-union in the face of this unprecedented attack will be up to the task.”
Nokia describes the Nozay facility as its center of excellence in 5G and Internet of Things, with the Lannion site housing its cyber security efforts. Other French business units, such as Radio Frequency Systems, Nokia Bell Labs France, and Alcatel Submarine Networks, will not be affected, according to a statement Nokia provided to Telecoms.com.
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