Ericsson lays off 1,200 staff in IT units

Ericsson will shed a further 1,200 staff in its information technology units worldwide.

Ericsson will shed a further 1,200 staff in its information technology units worldwide.

About 700 worker will be laid off in Sweden and 500 in other countries. It is not yet clear if there will be redundancies from their Irish operation.

The company, the world's largest mobile telephone equipment that employs 1,800 staff in the Republic, says the need for workers to support computer networks has reduced as the overall organisation has shrunk.

It said it has shrunk from 107,000 employees to roughly 64,000 workers so sends fewer e-mails and therefore needs fewer people to service servers.

READ MORE

Ericsson is struggling to return to profitability after two years of losses.

Last week, the company said chief executive Mr Kurt Hellstroem would retire in April and be replaced by Mr Carl-Henric Svanberg, the chief executive of international lock maker Assa Abloy.

PA