Ericsson to slash 8,500 jobs globally

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson announced that it will lay off about 8,500 employees globally to cut costs, according to a memo sent to employees seen by Reuters.

“The way headcount reductions will be managed will differ depending on local country practice, in several countries, the headcount reductions have already been communicated this week,” Ericsson’s CEO Borje Ekholm, wrote in the memo.

Ericsson, which has over 105,000 global employees, has announced plans to cut 1,400 jobs in Sweden on Monday.

Although Ericsson did not specify which region would be most affected by the plans, predictions indicate that North America is more likely to be the most affected, while growing markets like India are the least, according to Reuters.

The telecom company decided to cut costs by $880million by the end of 2023, with the decline of demand in some markets like North America, the company said in December.

The cost cuts would involve reducing consultants, real estate and employee headcount, Ericsson’s chief financial officer Carl Mellander, told Reuters.

Ericsson’s layoff plans would be the largest layoff in the telecoms industry, with tech companies like Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet laying off thousands of employees due to economic conditions.

Other companies like Verizon, one of the largest telecom companies plans to cut costs between $18.25 billion and $19.25 billion this year, down from a budget of $23 billion last year.