Beleaguered Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson said today that it would cut 20,000 jobs by 2003 and announced a 30 billion kronor (€3.26 billion) rights issue as it reported a net loss in the first quarter.
Ericsson plans to cut 10,000 jobs this year and a further 10,000 next year as part of a new efficiency programme, Ericsson spokesman Mads Madsen said after the group posted a net loss of 3.7 billion kronor in the first quarter.
Ericsson employs just over 1,800 people in Dublin and Athlone. The company had a tough year last year with almost 200 jobs lost here.
A spokesman for the company said that it was too early to say where the job cuts would be implemented.
'We can't put an exact amount on the number of employees, but during this year the programme will affect around 10,000 people and a similar amount next year,' Madsen said. He said all sectors would be affected by the cuts, half of which would be in Sweden.
Ericsson, which said it does not expect to return to profit until next year, said it planned 10 billion kronor in cost cuts in 2002 and a further 10 billion in 2003, as well as 8.5 billion in restructuring costs this year and 2 billion next year.
Coupled with previously-announced restructuring programmes, Ericsson expects savings of 28 billion kronor this year, 38 billion next year and a full 40 billion from 2004.
The group said its sales dropped by 26% in the first quarter, to 37 billion kronor, while the operating loss deepened from 4.2 to 4.5 billion kronor.
