Nokia slashes a further 10,000 jobs

Finnish mobile phone company Nokia has announced a fresh round of redundancies with some 10,000 workers facing the sack.

The move brings the total amount of staff laid off by the company since the appointment of current chief executive Stephen Elop in September 2010 to 40,000.

"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 stated.

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."

The company is also closing the last of its Finnish production plants, although it will continue to operate an R&D facility in its home country. R&D sites in Germany and Canada will close their doors, however.

Also closing is Nokia’s luxury handset maker Vertu, which produces flashy jewel-clad handsets costing as much as $300,000.

The net result of these moves – which are expected to be completed by the end of 2013 – is a core operating cost saving of around $3.8bn per year.

Nokia’s share price has tumbled by over 70 per cent since February 2011.