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The telecommunications equipment vendor said it would cut around 1,400 jobs in its home market of Sweden
This week, Ericsson has announced that it is seeking to reduce its company headcount in Sweden by 1,400 people, having agreed with trade unions to implement a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Exactly which departments of the business will be most affected by these cuts is not yet clear.
Ericsson currently employs around 15,000 people in its home country, with its global workforce totalling around 100,000 staff.
These cuts should not come as too great a surprise. The global economic situation, with high inflation and a myriad of supply chain issues, has left operators wary about scaling up their expensive RAN equipment rollouts, with Ericsson seeing a corresponding dip in revenue.
As such, at the end of last year, Ericsson announced that it would look to implement major cost-saving measures across its business, with the aim of saving 9 billion kronor (roughly $870 million) by the end of 2023. Naturally, this process was to include job cuts, though the specific details were not announced at the time.
Now, Ericsson has shared some further details of the process, which also includes cuts to consultants and other streamlining measures.
“As previously announced, Ericsson has accelerated cost improvements at a run-rate of SEK 9 crowns globally by the end of 2023, of which 70 percent in cost of goods sold and 30 percent in SG&A. The cost savings cover various areas such as reduction of consultants, streamlining of processes, reduced facilities, etc. As previously announced, it will also include headcount reduction,” explained the company in a statement.
According to Reuters, additional cuts in other markets are expected to be announced in the near future.
It is worth noting here that Ericsson is not the only technology company to be making major job cuts in recent months. Meta, Google, and Microsoft have been among the litany of major tech firms to announce significant layoffs since the start of 2023, with the economic downturn biting into revenues worldwide.
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