Nokia Siemens to Cut 17,000 Jobs Worldwide, Focus on Mobile Broadband Services

Telecommunications and data equipment provider Nokia Siemens Networks plans to cut approximately 17,000 employees worldwide by the end of 2013 in an effort to streamline business operations, the company announced Wednesday.

We believe that the future of our industry is in mobile broadband and services-and we aim to be an undisputed leader in these areas, Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia Siemens said in a statement.

At the same time, we need to take the necessary steps to maintain long term competitiveness and improve profitability in a challenging telecommunications market.

With the restructuring, the company hopes to reduce its annualized operating expenses and production overheads by €1 billion by the end of 2013, compared to the end of this year. Cuts will be made through site consolidation, transfer of activities to global delivery centers and consolidation of certain central functions, among other things.

The company is a joint venture between Siemens of Germany and Nokia of Finland.

For the layoffs, Nokia Siemens intends to launch locally led programs at the most affected sites to provide re-training and re-employment support.

These planned reduction are regrettable but necessary-and it is our goal to make them in a fair and responsible way, providing the support we can to employees and communities, Suri said.