Telia Group has announced it will slash around 850 jobs this year across all its operations, 650 of which will be in Sweden, after it posted a 6.4% year-on-year fall in revenues and a net loss of 397 million Swedish kronor ($47.7 million) in the second quarter.
This accounts for about 3% of the company's total staff and 8% of the work force in Sweden, correspondingly. "During the second quarter 2017 we have launched initiatives to reduce our cost base, just as we indicated in the first quarter. The main impact will be in Sweden where the operational expenses are still too high," Chief Executive Johan Dennelind said.
This measure is expected to reduce costs by approximately 5% in Sweden in the second half of 2017.
Telia continues to see a decline in demand for fixed telephony and broadband services, lower revenue from fiber optic installation, and increased operating costs.
It is becoming more difficult to deliver on the fiber demand still prevailing, even if our 1.9 million household target is intact for end 2018. We are still the leading and driving force in Sweden for this but we now start to reach the tail of the fiber roll out potential" added Dennelind.
