Under Rajeev Suri, its last boss, Nokia was always a bit cagey about discussing job cuts. Analysts and reporters had to wait until the publication of the Finnish vendor's annual reports to see the workforce damage caused by restructuring. Pekka Lundmark, Suri's successor, is not for hiding the ugly truth. In the full spirit of transparency, Nokia today revealed that between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs will disappear from its books over the next 18 to 24 months.
That would leave Nokia with between 80,000 and 85,000 employees worldwide as it tries to boost margins and restore 5G competitiveness. The hope is that job cuts will slash about 600 million ($717 million) off annual expenses by the end of 2023. Nokia intends to pump much of that into research and development, potentially reversing a three-year decline in total investments as rivals have upped expenditure. It is also clinging to its target for an operating margin of between 7% and 10% this year, after reporting one of about 9.7% in 2020.