A report filed by Bloomberg paints a grim picture for Nokia Oyj workers the world over. With an announced and looming restructuring in the works, the publication writes that “a reduction in research and development activities is set to be announced by the end of the month” and that “as many as 6,000 jobs” could be cut. Back in February — just days before Mobile World Congress — the company’s new CEO, Stephen Elop, announced that Nokia would adopt Microsoft’s recently released Windows Phone operating system on future smartphones. The announcement also noted that the company would begin to sunset development, support, and research activities centered around the Symbian and MeeGo operating systems — the two mobile operating systems currently utilized by Nokia phones. This reduction in activity translates into a surplus of unneeded, full-time job positions. At the close of 2010, Nokia employed 58,642 people in its handset organisation — 16,134 work in research and development. The company has over 16,000 workers located in Finland, and accounts for just north of 2% of that country’s total gross domestic product.
