Nokia closing German plant, slashing up to 2,300 jobs
Despite some encouraging financials out of Espoo as of late, Nokia is looking to cut costs and slim down in its effort to keep its paws firmly around the coveted title of number one cellphone manufacturer in the world. Its Bochum, Germany plant bears the brunt of this round of belt tightening, which will be closed by mid-2008; all told, a total of 2,300 jobs may be cut in the process. Nokia is smack in the middle of migrating some of its production capabilities to cheaper countries, with a Romanian plant -- which costs one-tenth to operate what a German plant does, apparently -- taking on much of the load. For what it's worth, Germany is apparently an extraordinarily pricey place to shut down a plant and lay off workers, so with any luck, the send-off will be a prosperous one for these ex-Nokians.
