Ericsson, Tuesday confirmed recent media reports to lay off 3,000 jobs in its home country Sweden, as it under goes additional cost cuts due to slowing markets and competition from China's Huawei.
Ericsson said it will also make general cost reductions and take out external costs, primarily by reducing the number of consultants in Sweden by 900, but also through general reductions in operating expenses.
Ericsson today has approximately 16,000 employees in Sweden. The proposed reduction affects approximately 1,000 positions in production, approximately 800 in R&D and approximately 1,200 in other operations. The proposed reductions are intended to be met through a combination of voluntary and forced reductions as well as other alternatives such as outsourcing.
Ericsson has continued to drive change in its global R&D organization to increase efficiency, optimize operations and reduce the number of R&D sites globally. The company has invested SEK 7 billion in three global ICT centers supporting R&D operations and forming the base for new digital business models.
Jan Frykhammar, President and CEO, Ericsson
Ericsson is going through a large transformation. We continue to have a strong focus on R&D, and since many years, most Ericsson employees work in software development and services, rather than hardware production.
Ulf Ewaldsson, Chief Strategy and Chief Technology Officer
We have a clear goal that our R&D in Sweden should be world leading, not least in next generation systems. In the short term we have to reduce the number of positions in R&D, primarily within administrative roles.
