(Image source from: Outlookbusiness.com)
Nokia is getting ready for another round of job cuts in its operations in India as part of a worldwide reorganization announced in November 2025, according to insiders. The company may reduce as much as 20 percent of its total workforce of 74,100 employees over time, with similar reductions expected in the India division, sources mentioned. This shake-up has already resulted in the appointment of Samar Mittal as India Country Business Leader and Vibha Mehra as India Country Manager, starting April 1, 2026, along with Tarun Chhabra leaving his position as head of India. In November 2025, Nokia’s CEO Justin Hotard presented a significant restructuring plan to be put into action starting in 2026, simplifying the company into two main segments—Network Infrastructure and Mobile Infrastructure. Businesses not fitting into key priorities have been organized separately for possible sale or review, as part of measures to enhance operations and match the growing demand for AI-driven services.
This represents a change from the structure set up in 2023 when then CEO Pekka Lundmark reorganized Nokia into three business groups—Mobile Networks, Network Infrastructure, and Cloud and Network Services—each responsible for its profits and losses, along with its own sales and marketing teams. Prior to 2023, Nokia followed a flat structure where sales teams managed customer relations from start to finish. This was changed during the shift to a vertical model, which also reduced many central roles in customer experience, sales, and marketing. “However, this change didn’t produce the expected results, leading to a return to the previous flat structure,” a company insider told Moneycontrol while keeping their identity private. Under the reintroduced structure, Mittal has been appointed Country Business Manager with more authority. Nonetheless, this role still does not equate to the level of the former head of India, Sanjay Malik, who had a top position for eight years combining the duties now assigned to Mittal and Vibha Mehra.
Chhabra’s position also lacked the same level of responsibility as Malik’s. Mittal will have more operational control than Chhabra and will manage the entire customer portfolio from beginning to end, effectively reinstating the previous operational model. Sources indicated that the recent restructuring is likely to lead to more job losses, especially since roles created after the 2023 reorganization are expected to be cut under the new plan. This latest move mirrors the previous restructuring, which also saw job cuts across different areas, including the elimination of positions like account managers, account heads, and the country head.
The estimates suggest that the overall figures from India might be approximately 20 percent. As this is a worldwide restructuring, its effects will reach every region. Consequently, India will also experience the effects, impacting not only the Indian operations but various departments, including shared global functions. The reasoning for this change is that the CNS and MN are being integrated, resulting in redundancy in many common roles, according to another informant. Insiders indicated that the upcoming changes are a result of the unsuccessful vertical organizational structure that gave business units operational independence globally and in India. "Nokia plans to utilize the skills of two senior executives to enhance its operations in India and assist clients. This aligns with Nokia's worldwide strategy revealed in November 2025. Nokia does not provide comments about specific employee issues," a spokesperson for Nokia India remarked in a statement to Moneycontrol.
Nonetheless, the company did not reply to questions regarding job reductions across departments caused by the restructuring.
Nokia’s global workforce has consistently decreased over the years. Following the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2018, the total employee count was about 103,000. By the close of 2024, this number had fallen to 75,600. In 2025, Nokia slowed down the layoffs, cutting roughly 1,500 positions to finish the year with around 74,100 workers, as reported in their annual overview. In contrast, Nokia in India saw a minor increase in permanent staff, climbing to 17,708 in 2025 from 17,270 in 2024. The total was higher in 2023 at 18,200. According to sources, the restructuring that started in January 2026 will result in job reductions as the company streamlines its structure from three business areas—Mobile Networks, Network Infrastructure, and Cloud and Network Services—into two. “Employees in non-essential roles will face impacts globally, including in India, as they are not part of the main priorities and are categorized separately for possible sale,” said another source. In December, reports indicated that Nokia plans to cut an additional 300 jobs in Greece and Italy, which adds to existing cuts of 700 in Germany and 427 in France.
Competitor Ericsson is also decreasing its workforce, eliminating around 5,000 positions in the past year, with more job cuts anticipated, CEO Borje Ekholm stated during a call following the earnings report on January 23, 2026.
Sources pointed out that Chhabra is still part of the team for now but is looking for options elsewhere. “For this specific position, he was not selected for several reasons,” one individual disclosed. Prior to his current role, Mittal was Vice President at Nokia, where he most recently managed the Cloud and Network Services division in the Middle East and Africa. In his new position, he will focus on Nokia’s market strategy in India and how the company interacts with telecom operators, AI and cloud service providers, as well as critical industries. Mehra, who was the Vice President for Government Relations, will now oversee communication strategies, manage government relations, and lead corporate social responsibility initiatives.
The changes being made and the possible job losses are happening as Nokia’s business in India is not doing well, with net sales falling by 15% compared to last year, reaching 393 million euros (Rs 4,324.96 crore) in the last three months of 2025. This decline is affected by poor performance in all areas of the business. To contrast, the company had reported net sales of 463 million euros in India during the same period one year prior.
