Lots more information here:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/20/jol...d-alternative/

I wonder who the unnamed single investor is...

I hope that "There is no such thing as bad publicity" applies here. Seen so many forum posts and news about Jolla. If Jolla gets back up it's again more free publicity.

I wonder if the writer fully understands the meaning of temporary layoff in this case. I guess it's more or less unique practice in Finland, at least I'm not aware that such practice exists elsewhere... however, it goes somewhat like this:

- Company finds itself in difficult situation and needs savings, therefore cooperation negotiations are started with the staff, which lasts six weeks minimum
- During negotiations alternatives are searched to reach desired saving, to avoid layoffs (it seems to be more like a theater most of time though...)
- After negotiation period company will go forward with layoffs, temporary layoffs (aka. forced leave) and other things.

Temporary layoff means that employment contract doesn't end, but is effectively frozen for certain amount of time. During this period employer doesn't pay salaries and employee of course is not required to work. Employee is also somewhat free to work elsewhere during the time and after it they return to work as usual. This method is usually used when difficulties are expected to be only temporary and company wants to keep the knowhow. Permanent layoffs are used when reduction on head count is deemed to be necessary permanently or for very long time (though some companies actually prefer very long forced leaves... ie in shipyards...). So, if employees don't resign, they are still there if/when funding returns.

Thanks very much for the background. Do the temporarily laid off people get their wages covered to any extent by the state during the agreed time?

Stephen Elop?

In the United States this would be similar to a furlough. A furlough is forced unpaid leave due to financial difficulties or at least the excuse as such. The US government did it a year or two ago during a shut down and companies regularly do it particularly for contractors if stock goals are not met. I know a very large technology giving out 1 month furlough through the end of this year.

"In the United States, a furlough (/ˈfɜrloʊ/; from Dutch: verlof, "leave of absence") is a temporary leave of some employees due to special needs of a company, which may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furlough If the writer is US based or worked in the US they may understand that term better.

In Denmark, and Sweden, temporary layoffs are also possible, and, at least in Denmark not so unrare, in certain industries.

Yes, the state is usually covering the wages to some extent, but not fully AFAIK.

Yes, they get normal unemployment benefits from the state and voluntary unemployment funds (if they have paid for it while they were working, most people in Finland do). The amount is dependent on your salary, higher salaries get smaller percentage. Practically it's somewhere between 55-68% on average income.