Ericsson to part with 1600 employees

Ericsson has sent a notification to the Swedish Public Employment Service. According to this, around 1600 jobs in Sweden could be affected by layoffs. The company has entered into negotiations with the responsible Swedish trade unions. "The planned headcount reduction is part of global initiatives to improve the cost structure," the company writes as a justification.

Initiatives to increase operational efficiency will continue group-wide, but will not be announced separately, the statement continues. This means nothing other than that further layoffs or at least headcount reductions will follow at other locations.

According to the public service broadcaster SVT Nyheter, Ericsson employs around 12,600 people in Sweden. This means that more than one in ten employees in Sweden will have to leave the company. A spokesperson for the Swedish Union of Engineers told SVT that the measures were a "mockery of the employees". She suspects that employees in the Stockholm-Kista plant will be primarily affected. Ericsson primarily operates as a supplier in the mobile communications market and is one of the most important industrial employers in Sweden. In Germany, the group employs around 2400 people at 12 locations. It cannot be ruled out that headcount reductions will also take place here.

(jes)