Nokia is reportedly planning a major round of layoffs, with up to 14,000 jobs expected to be cut globally as part of a broader restructuring effort. The layoffs, amounting to around 20% of its workforce of over 74,000 employees, are likely to be carried out in phases, reports Moneycontrol. India, where Nokia employs more than 17,000 people, is also expected to be impacted, although exact figures have not yet been confirmed.
The move comes amid slowing demand in the telecom sector, especially as operators reduce spending on 5G infrastructure, putting pressure on the company’s revenues and margins. Over the past two years, telecom companies across regions like North America, Europe, and parts of Asia have scaled back capital expenditure after an intense phase of 5G rollout. With many large deployments already completed, the pace of new network investments has slowed, directly affecting equipment providers like Nokia that depend on these contracts for growth.
The impact of the layoffs is expected to be global, with Europe also likely to see a notable share of job cuts given Nokia’s strong presence in the region. Meanwhile, India – one of Nokia’s largest talent bases and a critical market for both network deployment and research operations – is also expected to see some level of impact from the restructuring. This becomes even more critical as the company’s workforce in the country spans a wide range of functions, including network engineering, software development, global service delivery, and back-end operations.
The restructuring also follows a noticeable decline in Nokia’s business performance in India. The company has reported a drop in regional revenues on a year-on-year basis, with its India net sales falling by around 15% to ₹4,324 crore (~ €393 million) in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to about €463 million in the same period a year earlier. While at the global level, the company’s overall financial performance presents a mixed picture. For the full year 2025, the firm reported net sales of about €19.9 billion (~ $22.5 billion), showing a modest growth of around 2-3% year-on-year. However, profitability remains under pressure, with the company posting a comparable operating profit of around €2.0 billion and generating free cash flow of around €1.5 billion during the year.
This is not the first time Nokia has undertaken large-scale layoffs. In October 2023, the company announced plans to cut between 9,000 and 14,000 jobs globally, representing around 16% of its workforce at the time. Then in 2024, Nokia carried out targeted cuts, including around 2,000 job reductions in Greater China, along with plans to eliminate about 350 roles in Europe. Even in November 2025, the company also announced plans to cut around 700 jobs in Germany.
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