[Update – Nokia statement] Nokia May Lay Off 14,000 Employees Worldwide Amid Restructuring Efforts
Update on March 31stat 13:04 IST – Nokia said in a written statement to us.
“Any regional headcount reductions are part of Nokia’s global cost-savings program, which the company announced in 2023. As stated in the past, the target for this program is to make between EUR 800m-1.2bn cost savings by reducing headcount globally between 9,000-14,000 by the end of 2026. Nokia has not announced any specific regional guidance in India on headcount reductions. India continues to be an important hub for Nokia.”
Previous story continues below.
Nokia, a Finnish tech company, is reportedly aiming to cut down up to 20% of its global workforce, which amounts to around 14,000 jobs.
Read more about this below.
Nokia to lay off 20% of its workforce
As per media reports, Nokia is set to reduce around 20% of its 74,000 workforce globally, which would result in 14,000 layoffs globally. The report also mentions that the India unit is also likely to take a hit of a similar nature. Currently, in India alone, Nokia has around 17,000 employees. If we do the maths, then 20% of the 17,000 jobs, which amounts to 3,400, are likely to be affected by these layoffs.
One of the reasons behind restructuring, as quoted by the publication, is that back in 2023, Nokia announced the merger of Cloud and Network Services (CNS) and Mobile Networks (MN) business units. Because of this, there may have been some overlapping roles that were created, which the business is now reducing.
In related news, Nokia India reported a drop in net sales in Q4, 2025, to 393 million euros (Rs 4,324.96 crore). Comparing it with last year’s Net sales of 463 million in the same quarter, this amounts to a drop of 15%.
Along with the layoffs, the company is reportedly bringing major leadership changes. Tarun Chhabra, who was appointed as the India Country Head and Senior Vice President of Mobile Networks at Nokia in April 2024, has reportedly exited from the company. Furthermore, Samar Mittal has been appointed as the India Country Business Leader, who will oversee the entire customer portfolio. Adding more to this, Vibha Mehra has been appointed as India Country Manager, whose role will focus on government relations and communications. Both will take charge effective April 1st 2026.
