Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

So this was reported from some Norwegian news site.

http://e24.no/it/her-gaar-1500-nokia...otest/20023317

Google translate:

1500 depressed Nokia employees went home Friday in a kind of silent protest, after Nokia's CEO announced mass layoffs.

Friday, the 1,500 Nokia employees work at Nokia's plant in Oulu in spontaneous protest.
The employees, mainly working on software development for Nokia now expects to lose their jobs. This reports the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.
The reaction came soon after that their new CEO, Stephen Elop, had told the world that he intends to terminate a significant part of Nokia's 130,000 employees.
- A few Nokia employees chose to take advantage of the flexible working hours, union representatives said Kalle wedge, in a comment under the terms of the alternate strike.

Symbian downgraded

Several hundred of the 2,000 employees could lose their jobs because they work with the now downgrade the operating systems Symbian and MeeGo.
Nokia and Microsoft have not said that these should be phased out completely, but that Nokia will mainly focus on Windows 7 Phone

Nokia Corp
http://bors.e24.no/e24/images/chart/...7eeecc38b3.png
Source: http://bors.e24.no/e24/portal/e24no/...ticker=NOK.NYS


Kind regards,
Futtawuh

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Good on them, too bad some of them will loose their jobs soon, hope they find employment asap. I probably would have resigned after today announcement anyway...

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

thats nice. Destroy the company from within.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Ayes, I dont think Nokia will last that long with this. So I'd join you in that hunt for a new job.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

I really wonder how much talent will defect. Maybe Elop won't care if software guys leave, but what happens when some of the hardware talent starts to go?

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

HP and Google are already snatching those folks up.

Can't say I blame them either.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

GREAT ZARQUON! Can you imagine being that last new hire in one of those divisions at Nokia?

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Or having been accepted for one of the MeeGo positions posted in the last couple months? Especially if you're not already inside Finland?

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Grade school behaviour of children whose toys are being taken away. I hope Elop doesn't hesitate to fire their asses, this is a business and not a personal playground. They should be thankful for still getting a paycheque after years of torturing people with Symbian.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

As if its their fault, idiot.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Well well well why i am NOT suprised !!!.

I just seen this and thought straight away this should have happened 3 yr ago, well at least someone has got sense so my guess is ELOP is going to make all the difference to Nokia.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Think Einstein. CEO of a company makes a decision, that's life, if the employees don't like it then they should go work somewhere else and stop acting like spoiled 4 year olds. Get it?

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

You fool! You CAN blame the people at the top for their failure... it's not always an option to leave for the workers. I get it. I get it, especially during the recent recession.. especially if they live in Finland and need to keep their job. Oh I get it. heh

Now customers and investors.. THEY'RE the idiots if they continue to patronize and support a company like this.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Hail Elop, the canadian prick, you're in good company.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Whilst Kajko's comments diplay a poor attitude and tone (perhaps english isn't the priamry language here?) there is a point.
Given that Nokia has the largest RD budget of any other phone maker, what have all those dollars produced? flextime for it's programmers?

As much as we can piss and moan like we've just adopted a redheaded stepson when it comes to WP7, if a company with the largest R&D budget of any phone manufacturer can't even drag symbian (a great phone OS) kicking and screaming into the 21st century, then what hope for developing Maemo....or Meego?
Nokia has been fumbling around for ages and at some level the guys and girls at the very pointy end of development must shoulder some responsibility for not delivering, after all, they can't complain that they didn't have the budget to do it......

Having said this, I feel for anyone who's at risk of losing their job due to corporate "restructuring". Here's hoping they move to HP and help to make WebOS something that will take even more of Nokia's dwindling market share....

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

What went through my mind was... 1500 software engineers and they never got Maemo/MeeGo into a mass-consumer-ready state?!? That adds even more to boggle the mind in the mystery about what was taking them so long. :confused:

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

So true. For computer game players... think of Symbian as Daikatana, MeeGo as Duke Nukem Forever, and Nokia's programmers as Ion Storm and 3D Realms rolled into one.

Protesting the unfairness of being let go while not being able to deliver a solution despite record budget amounts (and PalmOS had ten version releases between its debut and HP's aquisition a little over a year later (compared to Maemo's 4) and was developed on a budget of three dollars and some pocket lint and was actually consumer-ready at launch) seems a little bit clueless. My next-to-last employer eventually went out of business, and some of us worked for up to three months without pay to try one final effort to land the company a new major account and turn things around - and that was after months of voluntary reduced pay, which was below market average in the first place. Heck, I went eight years without a vacation. :( Oh, and no health insurance or retirement plan. :( :( And we occasionally managed to steal accounts from competition several times our size.

A human resources employee at my next place of employment, a billion-dollar company, told me that "no one ever gets fired here". And trust me, you could tell. My boss had 15 people working under him and when weather was bad he'd let folks go home early... except myself and one other person. We were always told one of us could go. We initially thought it was some sort of loyalty test and we'd both make excuses to stay.
He eventually quasi-confessed that he'd only hired four of those 15 and we were the two best and he only had hiring authority but not firing authority. There was a lot of fun when an employee wanted to be fired rather than quit to collect unemployment benefits and like a tv comedy he couldn't get fired no matter what he intentionally screwed up or how he acted (including viewing Internet porn in full view of the rest of the office).


I'm sure there are a lot of new employees that had nothing to do with the Nokia mess that will be affected. On the other hand, I don't feel it heartless to suggest there are probably a lot of long-term employees there who probably should have been let go and replaced with less complacent and more ambitious employees a long time ago.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

MeeGo positions were being added right up until the announcement.

That's cruel.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

How long do you think before they start reducing their MeeGo related resources?

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

You can't honestly believe something that silly, can you?

I can assure you Maemo never got the budget it deserved, and MeeGo was obviously doomed when Elop took the job. He set it up to fail.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

We know it got over $300 million dollars... how can you assure us otherwise? Or by what criteria are you determining what the project "deserved"? Results couldn't be the criterion....

How did Elop set it up to fail when it was put in place years ago and failed before he even got to Nokia?
:confused:
You might want to ponder deeply the first sentence of yours that I quoted.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

I don't need to ponder anything deeply. I worked for Nokia, I launched and supported Maemo devices, and I know very well what I'm talking about. You're making assumptions about how that money was spent that are off the actual mark. Hint: it didn't go where it was really needed.

When I say Elop set MeeGo up to fail, I'm specifically referring to what transpired after he came on board, of course.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Mate, I can't speak from an insider's viewpoint but there's some validity to my point, no matter how distasteful. I drew a reference to Symbian as an example of a product that's been in development for years (along with maemo) and still hasn't reached a level of maturity and user satisfaction (on theUI side at least). Using the mantra that symbian for exmple is the most widely used OS doesn;t mean that R&D money has been spent wisely develooping it. Just look at windoze for proof of that.....


just my .02

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

I'm thinking about 500 roughly 500 of those people will have their jobs when they come back to work. Others will be scooped up and find great jobs that appreciate them, the workers weren't exactly the problem with Nokia it was management and their failure to hire my as a consultant :D

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

While resigning on principle is almost never a good idea, I actually did that at the last company I worked for when they've decided to move to .NET exclusively, even tho it didn't affect me directly - the existing small 'division' of .NET guys were such asses and our ways of thinking were so opposite that I figured it would only get worse when the new .NET blood (read it Microsoft mindset) starts rushing into the company... Not to mention that I don't like the .NET premise anyway.

Turns out it was the best decision of my life - a month later I got a new job, got almost double the salary, leading the R&D department and having an equal vote as the managers when it comes to strategic decisions. Epilogue: the company I've left is now reduced to a 10-people team that my company from time to time outsources for some ridiculously low cash; I have twice as much free time and I'm actually doing something I love; Sometimes it really does pay off to follow your principles.

Best decision of my life, period!

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

nice one bro

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

I agree that management was the problem at Nokia, particularly the executives. I think almost everyone can find messages that express that as far back as at least since time I joined. Maemo has been an incredibly badly managed platform almost ENTIRELY because of senior executives at the company.

As for not hiring you as a consultant, perhaps if you brushed up on your grammar you may have had opportunity. :D

I can relate.. and I've done precisely the same thing several times, actually. It strange that it works that way, but every time I left on those grounds (even as a teen), I almost always ended up with an increasingly better job that paid better and was far more in line with my interests and hobbies.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

My rent won't go up anytime soon. That I'm sure of.

Altough maybe I should move somewhere else. Kinda depressing living here right now. Walking past news stands with big headlines like "The beginning of the end" above cross made of Nokia phones.

Still, I remain confidant that this will be good for Espoo and Finland in general. Huge amount skill and talent will be let loose from the grips of totally incompetent Nokia management. Lots of good will blossom from that. Short term pain followed with better future.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

@Rauha: will you take some random.. candid.. pictures of the streets of Espoo? Some angles that you think would be interesting?

- The news stand of course
- Bus stop/train/subway station, to see a sample of Espoo's 'common' workforce
- Business district? Downtown?

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Espoo really isn't a city. More like a huge overgrown suburb of Helsinki. As such it's not really suited for good "street photography". Very cold today, so not much pedestrian action going on. I can try to find some good shots though.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Even if they're genuine, it's going to be pretty hard to convince most hackers worth hiring to join now....

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Oh ok. Looking forward to them!

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

2.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

3.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

4.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

5.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

6.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

From Keilaniemi district. Home to Nokia's HQ and many other corporations and high tech startups.

Nokia HQ
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...2dbf127b0d.jpg
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...f731c1146c.jpg

And Nokia's neighbours
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...3dac7e98fd.jpg
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...404d7e59ab.jpg




Random shots of my life in Espoo, day +1 Elopcalypse.


"The end is nigh"
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...13b6607450.jpg


http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...13b79a0e18.jpg


http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...230883dbb0.jpg

Helsingin sanomat about yesterdays annoucement. Added guide in english.
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...05b6a3e4ce.jpg

http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...625ec3f02b.jpg

"Finland in shock - Elop still laughing. Report about Nokia's day of doom"
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...c335e658fb.jpg

http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...41c2684eb1.jpg

http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...07a89fa74d.jpg

Miniature of new underground metro station. It's part of new Espoo metro extension. Total cost of the project 700 million euros. Started just couple of months ago. Possible not the best possible time after yesterday.
http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...9a6387717d.jpg





And finally my favourite picture. Explanation below.

http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/s/2767...51c4a3627f.jpg

On the bus it says Meego. The text attached to picture says that 2000 Nokia employees were taken to an event venue to hear the Elop annoucement. The venue was converted old slaughter house. (IMHO) Proving that if nothing else, Nokia management still has wickedly good sense of dark humour.

" -So where are we gonna tell these people that most will lose their jobs and fruits of their work will be abandoned? - How about a huge old slaughter house? - Sounds good. Book it!"

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

@Rauha: Thanks man. Those are some really cool pics. My best wishes for the people of Espoo, whatever comes out of this maneuver by Nokia

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

No problem. Just wish it hadn't been -15˚C and cold breeze. Was hard to take good pictures outside before non-gloved hands started to freeze.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

many people wont like this, but here's the deal.
Symbian is a fat and outdated platform that just cant evolve, updating symbian reminds me of how RIM tries to make BB OS look like a modern OS, although its one of the most primitive systems in terms of capabilities.
Maemo was extremely raw, and we all loved it, I'm surprised that there are 1000s of nokia employees actually angry why Nokia abandoned MeeGo while very few of them actually cared and developed Maemo and MeeGo during their finest hours, Maemo was living because of the great people here who dedicated their personal time and effort to bring endless functionality that many salaried workers failed to develop.
I'm not sure of what happens inside the company, maybe there are wonderful ideas and crazy applications that are trapped within the R&D department.
Nokia realized that true open source is not the best option for mainstream market, and mainstream market is what matters, you cant control and manage an eco-system when everything is truely open (please don't argue that Android is open).
I just hope that MeeGo will survive and that there will be a MeeGo phone this year, even if it's an exact match of the N900 with a faster hardware.

Re: Nokia employees protest due to massive layoff
 

Poor you! I really feel for you. It is not because you don't have holidays that the rest of the human race have to have the same karma.

Since when does the bottom of the pile have any power of decision over what to develop? They only can do the tasks the top brains allow them to. Try having your own ideas and suggestions heard when the top brass has already decided what is best for everybody? I makes my heart sink.:(

To all that speak against the employees: you all stink! That's why the Earth is in this mess! Think yourselves homo sapiens? One step back into apes... what a pity!