EU job-search aid: €2.6 million for 821 former Nokia workers in Finland

EU job-search aid worth €2,641,800 for 821 former ICT workers in Finland was approved by the Budgets Committee in a vote on Thursday.

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2017-05-12

The workers were made redundant by Nokia Network Systems and three of its suppliers and downstream producers.

821 out of 945 redundant workers are expected to benefit from the measures.

These job losses were the result of fierce competition between the Finnish ICT sector and its competitors.

The resolution, by rapporteur Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, FI), recommending that the aid request be approved was passed by 32 votes to 2, no abstentions.

ICT plays a key structural role in the Finnish economy, Budgets Committee MEPs note in the draft resolution. They point out that the latest redundancies at Nokia “reflect a trend that affects the Finnish technology industry as a whole, where employment numbers in the last two years are extremely unstable as a result of high pressure to increase efficiency and maintain the competitiveness of products.”

They also note that the redundancies are part of Nokia’s worldwide transformation programme, “which is needed in order to be able to compete with East Asian rivals.” The areas concerned are the regions around the cities of Helsinki, Oulu and Tampere (Helsinki-Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa, Northern Ostrobothnia).

Source: European Parliament

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