Telecom company Ericsson will axe 3,000 jobs as it ends 140 years of production in Sweden, according to reports.
Daily paper Svenska Dagbladet broke the news of plans to shut the last two remaining plants in the country, at Boras and Kumla.
If it went ahead, it would mean job losses for about 3,000 of Ericsson’s roughly 15,000 Swedish employees. It employs around 120,000 worldwide.
A statement from the company reads: “We have extensive operations in Sweden and those are not exempt. As always with staff cuts, we handle it country by country and always notify our employees and representatives in trade unions first.”
According to Per Norlander, a union official speaking to Swedish radio, there was no final decision made following negotiations.
“It’s absolutely not certain they will be closed,” he said.
The company announced a plan in 2014 to cut costs worth around $US 1.1 billion, and has sen sales shrink for the last seven quarters.
Reuters cites Ericsson’s difficulties as including competition from rivals Nokia and Huawei and slow demand from key markets, such as Russia and Nigeria.