Finland Times

“This is a very difficult situation, because in the past few years, thousands of people in the ICT sector have been laid off,” the ministers said in a joint statement.

Lindström promised that he would ensure necessary resources for the Employment Office to manage the situation so that new jobs would be found and created quickly.

According to the ministers, the government is also exploring the possibility of applying for funding from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

Technology giant Microsoft on Wednesday announced plans to streamline the company’s smartphone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 employees.

Microsoft anticipates that the restructuring will result in reduction of 1,350 jobs in Finland.

According to Microsoft, employees working for Microsoft Oy, a separate Microsoft sales subsidiary based in Espoo, are not in the scope for the planned reductions.

The head of Mobile Device Sales at Microsoft, Chris Weber confirmed to the news agency STT that the decision marks the end of mobile development in Finland.

“You may say that our mobile division in Finland will disappear as a result of these redundancies,” Weber said.