Ericsson cuts 300 jobs in Spain

Ericsson is a Swedish telecoms company that will be cutting over 300 positions in Spain (about 13% of its total workforce) as part of an extensive European reorganisation this July..

The move comes just a year after the company’s Madrid, Málaga and Barcelona operations avoided global layoffs at its Stockholm HQ.

The cuts will affect roles across Ericsson Spain’s 2,260-strong team, which includes over 800 R&D positions distributed across:

• Madrid (600 staff members)
• Málaga (200 staff)
• Barcelona (30 staff)

These changes come after Ericsson decided to reduce the number of global business units it had from seven to only four. Internal duplications have been made, and roles are being eliminated. The company acknowledged that the restructuring would “create operational efficiencies which could mean duplicating certain functions or making work simpler, which will result in eliminating some functions”. elEconomista.es.)

Ericsson has cut 8,500 jobs worldwide due to the slump in mobile network equipment. 1200 of these were in Stockholm. Spain, however, was mostly untouched.

The company had previously described its Spanish subsidiary as “strategic,” thanks to its close proximity to decision-making at telecom giants like Telefónica, Vodafone, and Orange. However, those relationships have shifted due to Orange’s merger with MásMóvil and Vodafone’s acquisition by Zegona.

Ericsson’s European, Middle Eastern, and African operations were merged into a single EMEA Region in June. The previous MELA structure (Europe and Latin America), which was in place before, has been dissolved. France’s Christian Leon now oversees the European operations, with Ericsson Spain CEO Diego Martínez reporting directly to him.

Ericsson Spain’s financial results for 2024 show growth despite the impending layoffs:

• €25.8 million in profit (+11 per cent vs. 2023)
• €538.1 million in sales (+8.2 per cent)

Personnel costs hit nearly €250 million, 16.8 per cent higher than the year before. Meanwhile:

• Director salaries dropped by 17.5 per cent to €783,000
• Senior management received €2.6 million, the same as 2023, split between 14 executives

In Spain, the company cut 47 jobs last year. That’s a huge contrast to this year’s projected 300+ job cuts.

Ericsson’s move could be a precursor to a wave of layoffs across Europe’s struggling telecommunications industry.

All Business News.