Metalworkers union leader Vuorenmaa claims mismatch between values and behaviour at Nokia Plc Helsinki (04.05.2003 - Juhani Artto) Nokia Networks, the infrastructure arm of Nokia Plc, announced in April that it plans to cut 1,100 jobs in Finland. The reductions will occur in R&D, operations, sales, marketing and support functions. The goal is to reduce costs, improve profitability and strengthen the company’s position in the mobile infrastructure business. Finnish Metalworkers Union President Erkki Vuorenmaa says that the move demonstrates a mismatch between Nokia’s declared values and its concrete behaviour. Vuorenmaa points out that the enterprise argument for extensive job reductions and redundancies rests purely on improving profitability, which means meeting shareholder expectations. In the course of codetermination negotiations on the proposed measure Vuorenmaa is calling for Nokia’s leadership to consider what is most important to the enterprise: maintaining the highest possible profit margin or retaining skilled and able employees in preparation for the coming high business cycle. Vuorenmaa hopes that other electronic and metal industry businesses will not follow Nokia’s example. He is grateful to enterprises elsewhere in the sector for retaining their staff over the last two years even at the cost of zero margins. Vuorenmaa calls attention to the fact that in its own code of conduct Nokia emphasises openness and transparency. He insists that Nokia should now adhere to this code in the course of mandatory consultations on the job reduction plan. Real consultation requires all necessary basic information to be supplied to employee representatives at an early stage, Vuorenmaa observes. Such an approach optimises placement planning. The union leader also points out that even those who will now lose their jobs have provided a valuable contribution to Nokia’s success story. Read also:
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