Nokia announces more than 1,200 layoffs in France, Bercy reacts

Nokia will separate from a third of its workforce in France. The Finnish telecoms equipment supplier announced, on Monday, June 22, in a press release the loss in France of 1,233 jobs from its subsidiary Alcatel-Lucent. 

The group plans to cut 402 jobs in Lannion (Côtes-d'Armor) and 831 in Nozay (Essonne), Bernard Trémulot (CFDT) and Frédéric Aussedat (CFE-CGC) told AFP after a central social and economic committee (CSE). 

"A disaster" 

For its part, Bercy asked Nokia to improve "very significantly" its project to reorganize its activities in France, said on Monday, an official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance after the announcement of the Finnish firm .

"It's a disaster," denounced Trémulot. "This will be the fourth collective redundancy plan since Nokia bought Alcatel-Lucent in early 2016", noted in a press release the inter-union CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT and CFTC of Alcatel-Lucent. 

The group plans a voluntary departure plan and "reclassification solutions," he said in his press release. The job cuts will concern research and development (R&D) positions, as well as support functions, according to management and the unions.

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The job cuts are part of a "global cost reduction plan" launched at the end of 2018, said Nokia, which wants to "step up its efforts to improve its competitiveness and guarantee its long-term performance", "in a market context where pressure on costs remains very high ". 

Improve productivity 

"The objective is to increase operational efficiency, improve productivity and gain agility in terms of R&D, in order to strengthen the competitive position and guarantee the group's long-term performance," said Nokia. 

Three other French subsidiaries of Nokia, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), Nokia Bell Labs France (NBLF) and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), "remain outside the scope of this project", adds management. 

With AFP

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