Ericsson’s secret plan: to Put down all production in Sweden – Svenska Dagbladet

Ericsson has had manufacturing in Sweden since 1876, but now a 140-year-old era go to the grave. Photo: Magnus Hjalmarson Neideman, Jack Mikrut/TT

It is chocksiffror are in the document. SvD Näringsliv has taken part of a confidential besparingsplan for one of Ericsson’s biggest business areas in Sweden, Networking products. According to the report, approximately 3 000 employees are forced to leave in network Products. All of that cost targets are to be achieved.

this plan would take the death of on Ericsson and be a first step to wind down the whole of Ericsson’s operations in Sweden.

In the report shows that the company’s operations in the network Products will save twice as much as during the last year. Then was cut nearly 1 500 services away from the Swedish unit, which went under the name of Radio. The new plan is historic. They involve not only a doubling of last year’s notice within Ericsson’s biggest business area. They also mean the closure of the last production, as Ericsson in Sweden, in the towns of Borås and Kumla. Thus a Swedish industriepok in the grave. Ericsson has had manufacturing in Sweden since 1876. Also Ericsson’s management is aware of the importance of the action. You write in the report: "We are ending a 140-year-old tillverkningsepok, which corresponds to the biggest cuts of the employees in Sweden, ever."

Ericsson in Borås employs over 800 employees and Ericsson in Kumla, more than 400 pieces. But in total it is around 1 800 jobs related to the manufacturing process involved, according to the secret report. Even the professional field, research and development, are affected. Around 1 050 persons may need to be forced out. There will be a total of 2 850. Other operations in the network Products in Sweden must be scaled down by an estimated a hundred.

in Total, Ericsson has today around 15 000 employees in Sweden. The majority are linked to the business area Networking products. The head of the business area, the indian Arun Bansal, is based in Stockholm, Kista and included in Ericsson’s top management. Overall, it is expected the proposed action – on the one hand to close down the production, and partly to cut down the number of employees – provide savings of around sek 3 billion. Of savings to be charged, is more than half in Sweden. A smaller proportion, 40 percent, would you take out outside of Sweden.

the principals gone through sparbetingen and presented their proposal. The process by notice is now, according to internal sources to SvD, of management, and Jan Frykhammar, who became acting president when His Vestberg was kicked to the 25 July this year.

Since a week back sitting in Ericsson’s management is in negotiations with koncernfacket. The dramatic sparplanen for Ericsson in Sweden has stirred up emotions.

“this plan would take the death of on Ericsson and be a first step towards dismantling the whole of Ericsson’s operations in Sweden,” says a source centrally positioned in the negotiations between employers and workers.

to reduce the number Of employees with several thousand in the Networking products planning Ericsson to make use of different strategies. Among other things, outsourcing, voluntary redundancy, but also layoff if it becomes necessary is it to read in the documents. The volunteer programs to be offered to employees during October and november. Already in december, however, Ericsson is forced to lay off employees if not enough people join and take severance pay. Ericsson should be completed in the first quarter of next year, according to the schedule that is contained in the documents.

the Documents also reveal in detail the lessons Ericsson benefited from cutbacks in previous years in Sweden. Where going to read that well-prepared presentations are a must. All managers need to have the same message to the trade union representatives. At the same time encouraged managers to "be careful with what you promise to deliver to the unions". Another piece of advice is to "not react to everything they say in the meetings". Of the document is shown to a handful of meetings on the secret plan, the plan shall be implemented with the slot in the end of september.

Documents … taken part of is about how big the cuts the largest business Networking products to do. How big cutbacks that Ericsson will make a total of is not clear. But are they in the same order of magnitude, that is to say, twice as large as in 2015, so it would equate to more than 1 000 posts. Thus, a total of 4 000.

Already in the middle of June in the year could the Swedish daily svenska Dagbladet reveal that thousands of people risked to go from Ericsson in Sweden. In connection with the interim report came as news that there was lying the savings programme "Profitability Plus 2017" should be doubled, and that the big notice waiting to come. The employees were taken by surprise by the news about the doubling indicated the tray, then, for the SvD.

The doubled cost savings program must be seen as a consequence of the company’s weak results that were presented in the semiannual report. Then said the then ceo Hans Vestberg, it will mean thousands more redundancies across the whole group, not clear where.

Of a total of 116 000 employees of the group are, thus, more than 15 000 in Sweden. When Hans Vestberg began as ceo in 2010 was the number of employees in Sweden of more than sek 20 000. Since then, more than a quarter of the workforce had to go. Substantial reductions occurred with the closure of the factories in Gävle, Katrineholm. Ericsson would not comment on the SvD’s data, but says that:

– As always when it comes to staff cuts, we manage the country and we always inform our employees and representatives for the unions first. We have extensive operations in Sweden and it is not in the exceptions, ” says Karin Hallstan on the company’s information management department.