Nokia cuts 4,000 jobs; Symbian developers to land at Accenture
Nokia said Wednesday that it will cut about 4,000 workers by the end of 2012. About 3,000 of those workers focused on Symbian software development will land at Accenture.
In a statement, Nokia said the layoffs, which were expected, are part of a move to realign its strategy behind Windows Phone 7. Nokia is looking to cut expenses by 1 billion euros in 2013 compared to 2010.
The job cuts will affect workers in Denmark, Finland and the UK. Nokia will also consolidate its research and product development sites. Workers will stay on Nokia's payroll through 2011 and job cuts will start in phases through 2012. Another part of Nokia's realignment is a pact with Accenture. Under that deal, Accenture gets 3,000 Nokia employees who will focus on Symbian. That phase is a straight-up outsourcing deal. Typically, companies outsource operations to a vendor and offloads workers. Nokia will transfer Symbian focused workers in China, Finland, India and the UK to Accenture by the end of 2011.
Add it up and Nokia is outsourcing its Symbian development to Accenture. What's in it for Accenture? Accenture gets to be the preferred mobility software services provider to Nokia in future smartphones.
Here's a look at the moving parts of the Accenture deal:
- Accenture starts out with Symbian, but will provide software, business and operational services around the Windows Phone platform to Nokia.
- The consulting firm becomes the lead smartphone developer for Nokia.
- Accenture and Nokia can better focus on the enterprise, which will be a sweet spot for both parties---not to mention Microsoft.
- Nokia and Accenture will aim to "retrain and redeploy" employees transitioned from their Symbian roles.
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