Helsinki: Microsoft Corp on Friday confirmed it will close Nokia Oyj's former handset product development unit in Salo, Finland, and will cut a total of up to 2,300 jobs in the Nordic country.
The cuts, initially announced in July, are part of Microsoft's plan to cut 7,800 jobs globally, most from the phone hardware business that it bought from Nokia last year.
Two Finnish sites, in Espoo and Tampere, will remain open, Microsoft said.
When US software giant Microsoft bought Nokia's struggling mobile phone business last year, the inhabitants of Salo – a town of 54,000 in southern Finland – thought the move would revive the local economy.
Also read: Finnish town of Salo plunges further into recession after Microsoft kills Nokia unit
Ten years ago, Nokia’s operations in Salo employed 5,000 people and even in 2008, over a fifth of all jobs in the area were within information technology.
But their hopes were crushed when Microsoft announced it would close Nokia's former product development unit in the town, putting all jobs at risk. Last year the US company had said it could hire more staff in Salo.
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