Nokia to axe 7,000 jobs

The company announced a major overhaul of its business, including culling 4,000 staff and transferring 3,000 employees to Accenture.

The jobs cull amounts to around 12 per cent of its workforce. Nokia hopes to complete the job cuts by 2012.

Key job functions that will be hit include software design and research and development. Marketing cuts have not been ruled out.

Nokia intends to slash its costs by one billion euros by 2013 and plans to start using Microsoft software instead of its own Symbian platform.

Nokia is effectively outsourcing its Symbian platform to Accenture. As part of the tie-up between the two parties, Accenture said it will produce software for future Nokia smartphones. Accenture will also provide software, business and operational services around the Windows phone platform to Nokia.

In addition, Accenture said it would become the preferred partner for Nokia's smartphone development activities.

In February this year, Nokia unveiled its turnaround strategy to grab back market share from Apple's iPhone.

Stephen Elop, Nokia president and chief executive, said, "At Nokia, we have new clarity around our path forward, which is focused on our leadership across smart devices, mobile phones and future disruptions.

"However, with this new focus, we also will face reductions in our workforce. This is a difficult reality, and we are working closely with our employees and partners to identify long-term re-employment programmes for the talented people of Nokia."