Nokia said in a statement on Thursday that it will cut up to 14,000 jobs in a major cost reduction to address a "weak" market environment.


The Finnish telecoms giant, a major provider of 5G equipment that employs 86,000 people, announced the move as part of a wider restructuring that will reduce its headcount to between 72,000 and 77,000.


The company estimates that the move will reduce personnel costs by 10% to 15% and save at least 400 million euros ($421.4 million) in 2024 alone.


In general, The reduction is expected to increase Nokia's costs to 1.2 billion euros (nearly $1.3 billion) by the end of 2026. Nokia ( NOK ) said it would move "quickly" to make the changes.


"The most difficult decisions in business affect our people," CEO Pekka Lundmark said in a statement. "We have qualified staff at Nokia and will support all those affected by this process."

The announcement came on the same day that Nokia reported worse-than-expected results. "Sales in the third quarter fell 15% compared to the same period last year as macroeconomic uncertainty and high interest rates continued to pressure operator spending," it said.



The company said mobile network sales fell 19 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier due to slow 5G deployment in markets like India.


Swedish rival Ericsson warned this week that sales in the second half of 2023 are likely to be weaker than usual, echoing Nokia's comments of a "challenging environment and macroeconomic uncertainty".


But Nokia maintained its outlook for 2023, forecasting sales for the year between €23.2 billion and €24.6 billion ($24.4 billion and $25.9 billion).


"We continue to believe in the mid- to long-term attractiveness of our markets," said Lundmark.