February 24, 2009
Espoo, Finland - As part of its previously announced plans to increase cost-efficiency and adapt to the challenging market environment, Nokia today announced new voluntary measures aimed at reducing personnel-related costs and lessening the need for involuntary redundancies. The initiatives announced today include the global Voluntary Resignation Package and wider use of short-term unpaid leaves and sabbaticals. Nokia also encourages employees to take holiday as time off instead of taking cash compensation in 2009.
"The response from employees and employee representatives in proposing ideas to help reduce personnel-related costs has been encouraging. We have considered these and are now announcing voluntary initiatives that could contribute to our efforts to adjust our cost base to the current market environment. If successful, the voluntary initiatives will lessen the need for involuntary redundancies," said Hallstein Moerk, Nokia's Head of Human Resources.
The global Voluntary Resignation Package will be made available for employees worldwide, with the exception of direct labour and senior executives. The terms and conditions of the package are in accordance with local practices and legislation. The Voluntary Resignation Package will be open for application from March 1 until 1,000 employees have applied, closing at the latest May 31, 2009.
During 2009, Nokia will also grant short-term unpaid leaves and sabbaticals of, for example, one month, more freely where operations allow and business continuity is not jeopardized. Furthermore, during 2009 the company will also encourage employees not to "cash in" their holiday but to take their holiday as time off, as it is intended.
Terms and implementation of all these schemes are subject to local practice and legislation.
These measures are part of Nokia's previously announced plans to adjust its business operations and cost base according to market demand and safeguard future competitiveness. Nokia continues to seek savings in operational expenses, looking at all areas and activities across the company.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
It should be noted that certain statements herein which are not historical facts, including, without limitation, those regarding: A) the timing of product, services and solution deliveries; B) our ability to develop, implement and commercialize new products, services, solutions and technologies; C) expectations regarding market growth, developments and structural changes; D) expectations regarding our mobile device volume growth, market share, prices and margins; E) expectations and targets for our results of operations; F) the outcome of pending and threatened litigation; G) expectations regarding the successful completion of contemplated acquisitions on a timely basis and our ability to achieve the set targets upon the completion of such acquisitions; and H) statements preceded by "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "foresee," "target," "estimate," "designed," "plans," "will" or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Because they involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from the results that we currently expect. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) the deteriorating global economic conditions and the related financial crisis and their impacts on us, our customers, suppliers, and collaborative partners; 2) competitiveness of our product, service and solutions portfolio; 3) the extent of the growth of the mobile communications industry; 4) the growth and profitability of the new market segments that we target and our ability to successfully develop or acquire and market products, services and solutions in those segments; 5) our ability to successfully manage costs; 6) the intensity of competition in the mobile communications industry and our ability to maintain or improve our market position or respond successfully to changes in the competitive landscape; 7) the impact of changes in technology and our ability to develop or otherwise acquire complex technologies as required by the market, with full rights needed to use; 8) timely and successful commercialization of complex technologies as new advanced products, services and solutions; 9) our ability to protect the complex technologies, which we or others develop or that we license, from claims that we have infringed third parties' intellectual property rights, as well as our unrestricted use on commercially acceptable terms of certain technologies in our products, services and solution offerings; 10) our ability to protect numerous Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks patented, standardized or proprietary technologies from third-party infringement or actions to invalidate the intellectual property rights of these technologies; 11) Nokia Siemens Networks' ability to achieve the expected benefits and synergies from its formation to the extent and within the time period anticipated and to successfully integrate its operations, personnel and supporting activities; 12) whether, as a result of investigations into alleged violations of law by some current or former employees of Siemens AG ("Siemens"), government authorities or others take further actions against Siemens and/or its employees that may involve and affect the carrier-related assets and employees transferred by Siemens to Nokia Siemens Networks, or there may be undetected additional violations that may have occurred prior to the transfer, or ongoing violations that may have occurred after the transfer, of such assets and employees that could result in additional actions by government authorities; 13) any impairment of Nokia Siemens Networks customer relationships resulting from the ongoing government investigations involving the Siemens carrier-related operations transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks; 14) occurrence of any actual or even alleged defects or other quality issues in our products, services and solutions; 15) our ability to manage efficiently our manufacturing and logistics, as well as to ensure the quality, safety, security and timely delivery of our products, services and solutions; 16) inventory management risks resulting from shifts in market demand; 17) our ability to source sufficient amounts of fully functional components and sub-assemblies without interruption and at acceptable prices; 18) any disruption to information technology systems and networks that our operations rely on; 19) developments under large, multi-year contracts or in relation to major customers; 20) economic or political turmoil in emerging market countries where we do business; 21) our success in collaboration arrangements relating to development of technologies or new products, services and solutions; 22) the success, financial condition and performance of our collaboration partners, suppliers and customers; 23) exchange rate fluctuations, including, in particular, fluctuations between the euro, which is our reporting currency, and the US dollar, the Chinese yuan, the UK pound sterling and the Japanese yen, as well as certain other currencies; 24) the management of our customer financing exposure; 25) allegations of possible health risks from electromagnetic fields generated by base stations and mobile devices and lawsuits related to them, regardless of merit; 26) unfavorable outcome of litigations; 27) our ability to recruit, retain and develop appropriately skilled employees; 28) the impact of changes in government policies, laws or regulations; and 29) our ability to effectively and smoothly implement our new organizational structure; as well as the risk factors specified on pages 10-25 of Nokia's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2007 under "Item 3.D Risk Factors." Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proving to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Nokia does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.
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