Nokia axing 10K jobs, dropping 3 high-level execs

Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia will cut around 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013 in a wide-ranging cost reduction measure, the company announced today.

Nokia is in a precarious position now as it tries to offer a smartphone lineup of Windows Phones (like the Lumia 900 in the photo above) after selling Symbian-based phones for many years. In April, the company’s head of sales stepped down after Nokia incurred a $1.7B first quarter loss. The company also showed it was willing to cut marketing costs by frustratingly shrinking its usually big Nokia World event.

CEO Stephen Elop will cut around 10,000 positions as well as shut down research and production sites in his largest bid to re-organize the company. About 3,700 of the positions getting cut will be from its employees in Finland, with active sites in Finland, Germany, and Canada will also getting shut down.

Elop is motivated to quickly find a path to success for the ailing company, especially since investors are fleeing and Nokia’s stock price is falling. The company’s stock has lost nearly 50 percent of its value in the past year. In light of this, the company lowered its outlook for the second quarter as well.

Several of the company’s executives will also be stepping down. Jerri DeVard will step down as chief marketing officer, Mary McDowell will step down as executive vice president of mobile phones, and Niklas Savander will step down as executive vice president of markets.

“These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,” Elop said, in a statement. “We do not make plans that may impact our employees lightly, and as a company we will work tirelessly to ensure that those at risk are offered the support, options and advice necessary to find new opportunities.”

Nokia Lumia 900 photo: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat