Nokia to Cut Jobs

Nokia to cut 1,700 jobs in sinking phone market

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Nokia Oyj will slash 1,700 jobs globally over the coming few months because of falling demand, the world’s top cellphone maker said .

Nokia said in January it aimed to cut annual costs at its key handset unit alone by more than 700 million euros ($909.3 million) to counter the plunging demand.

Nokia said that, in addition to its handset unit, it would also cut jobs in its marketing unit, corporate development office and global support functions.Up to 700 jobs would be cut in Finland.

The overall cellphone market is expected to contract by about 10 percent this year, hurt as consumers rein in spending and handset sellers try to clear out unsold phones.

“The first quarter will be weak, then it will improve a little,” said Nordea analyst Martti Larjo. “Some component suppliers have signaled slight improvement.”

Nokia is expected to report January-March earnings per share (EPS) falling to 0.08 euros, the weakest level since the third quarter of 2001, when all vendors in total sold just 94 million phones — less than Nokia alone is seen selling this quarter.

Nokia said it was continuing to seek savings in operational expenses, looking at all areas and activities.

Nokia said it was offering severance packages to the first 1,000 employees who volunteered to leave, and cut production at its key Salo plant in Finland.

Earlier Goldman Sachs cut Nokia EPS forecasts for 2009 and 2010 due to weaker demand, a lower smartphone market share and greater margin impact from a strong yen.

Goldman said it now expects market volumes to shrink 14 percent this year and increase only 5 percent next year. It had earlier forecast a 10 percent fall for 2009 and 10 percent growth next year.

Edited by Onyango Okeyo

Editorials: Surviving Economic Downturn

As ominous headlines about tough economic times continue to spread, business leaders are looking for ways not only to survive but to emerge more strongly when the clouds clear. Because IT plays a central role in maximizing opportunity, IT leaders must assess their strategies for making the most out of adversity.

Understanding The Root Cause

A number of factors are driving today’s uncertainty, including the sub prime mortgage crisis, skittish banks, volatile currency and energy prices, and a flat employment outlook. As companies and consumers re-evaluate their priorities, enterprises that supply them face flattening demand for goods and services.

I hope a recession is coming.

During the last one, the airlines were so desperate for business that they had to lower prices and treat customers nicely. You could tell the difference between the passenger and the cargo compartments.

Now, there are so many eager travelers that the airlines are earning record profits. Fares have gone up, passengers almost have to sit on each other’s laps, and you’re lucky if a flight attendant flings a bag of pretzels at you on a three-hour flight.

Economic downturn hits IT budgets

The economic downturn has arrived in the data center explains Mark Schlack of CIO news. According to a survey of 275 members of SearchCIO.com and SearchCIO-Midmarket.com, many shops will work with smaller IT budgets this year, and few will see large increases.

The economic downturn appears to have many shops scaling back infrastructure expansions and focusing more tightly in 2009 on delivering business applications, dealing with security and meeting compliance and disaster recovery (DR) mandates.

The infrastructure boom of recent years is likely to give way to a second wave of consolidation.

Everyone knows that the roots of both aspects of economic crisis lie in America´s long debt-fueled consumer binge. Americans have been living beyond their means for about 20years and they have to put that right.

With the economic downturn, global citizens are waiting to see if Obama administration stimulus package can help both US economy and the rest of the world.

USA economy is global, their crisis is global and their solutions must be global. All awaits to see if America stands ready to lead economically like in the past years before these crisis.

Onyango Okeyo

Humor:The Devoted Wife

A devoted wife had spent her lifetime taking care of her husband.

When he was slipping in and out of a coma for several months, she stayed by his bedside every single day. When he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer.

As she sat by him, he said, “You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times.”

“When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you gave me support. When my health started failing, you were still by my side.”

“You know what?”

“What, dear?” his wife asked gently.

“I think you are bad luck.”

Public Lecture On Leadership In Africa

Public Lecture On Leadership In Africa

AFRICA IS HELD RANSOM TO THE LEADERSHIP IT ACREDITS?

Arne Malo argues this in his coming lecture at the Café pan-Afrika. According to him: “The capacity to communicate a vision involves motivation and

Power comes from below

inspiration. When leaders create an environment that inspires , motivates, and encourages passion among their people, they fulfill a fundamental function of society – namely the role of work as a source of creative human fulfillment.

“The most important quality of a good leader is character. It is this character that sets the tone in an organization or in the government. Clearly, the values, principles and standards which make up good governance and foster social responsibility start at the top. In fact, the values which provide the foundations for good governance – namely fairness, accountability, responsibility and trust – are intrinsic qualities of good leaders.”

Café pan-Afrika
Wednesday 4 Mars, 18.00-19.30
Afrosvenskarna i Stockholm
Bohusgatan 25, t-bana: Skanstull

Speaker
Arne Malo

Afriswedes’ Rights and Capacitation center (ARCC).
The seminar will be in English but questions can be asked and answered in Swedish

Free entrance
Café Pan-Afrika is open between 17.00-21.00

For more info visit www.afrosvenskarna.se

Lifted from KSB