Ericsson to cut employees from U.K. division

Ericsson announced this week that it would lay off 700 employees, or about 17 percent of its U.K. employee base, as it plans to shut down its Coventry R&D headquarters. Ericsson's plan, similar to Nokia Siemens Networks' recently announced restructuring plan, is to reduce its staff as part of a $1.45 billion cost cutting program after Q3 revenues slid.

The company has had a presence in Coventry since it bought out the majority of Marconi's telecom assets in 2006. Ericsson plans to move ongoing R&D work at the Coventry site to other countries that it says have "significant scale and product synergies." In addition, new R&D activities will move to countries that have a lower cost base.  

This latest move comes after a tough third quarter at Ericsson. Citing poor performance in emerging markets and slower spending cycles, Ericsson reported that Q3 revenue fell 6 percent and profit fell 74 percent, respectively.

For more:
- Financial Times has this article

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