Swedish telecom giant Ericsson said Friday that it would lay off 4,000 employees worldwide for cutting costs following a substantial fall in profits.
The company's profits in 2007 were 30.7 billion kronor (about 4.8 billion U.S. dollars) after financial items, 15 percent less than 2006, although net sales through the year were 187.8 billion kronor (about 29.3 billion dollars) during the last year, 4 percent more than 2006, according to the annual report of Ericsson.
While industry fundamentals and consumer behavior support a positive longer-term outlook, market growth slowed in 2007, and Ericsson was planning for a "flattish" mobile infrastructure market in 2008, Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said in the report.
"We will intensify our operational excellence programs and reduce our cost base to safeguard our competitive position," he said.
The cost-cutting program, which will fully take effect, aims to save 4 billion kronor (about 625 million U.S. dollars) per year.
Some 4,000 jobs will be cut worldwide as part of the drive to cut overheads. The company wrote in the report that these would be axed as far as possible through voluntary programs.
The program will cover all parts of the company, but the departments of sales, administration, purchasing, production and service delivery, according to the report.
Source:Xinhua
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