Erickson, Barcelona. Credit: Davide Bonaldo, Shutterstock
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has been part of a European restructuring that cuts more than 300 jobs (approximately 13% of the workforce) in Spain..
The move comes a year after the company’s operations in Madrid, Malaga and Barcelona avoided global layoffs at Stockholm headquarters.
The cut will affect the role of the entire 2,260-man team in Erixon Spain. This includes the following 800+ R&D positions:
- Madrid (600 staff)
- Malaga (200 staff)
- Barcelona (30 staff)
These changes follow Erickson’s decision to reduce global business units from seven to just four, prompting the elimination of internal duplication and roles. The company said the restructuring “means that it creates operational efficiency, which means replicating some features and making the work easier. Eleconomista.es. )
Last year, Ericsson cut 8,500 jobs worldwide due to a recession in the mobile network equipment market.
The company previously described its Spanish subsidiaries as “strategic” thanks to its proximity to decision-making at telecom giants such as Telefonica, Vodafone and Orange. However, these relationships were changed with the merger of Orange and Masmoville and the acquisition of Vodafone by Zegona.
In June, Ericsson consolidated its European, Middle East and Africa operations into a single EMEA region and disbanded the previous Mera (European and Latin America) structures. French Christian Leon is currently overseeing the European business, and Erickson Spain CEO Diego Martinez has reported directly to him.
Despite looming layoffs, Erikson Spain’s 2024 financial results show growth.
- 25.8 million euros profit (+11% vs 2023)
- Sales of 538.1 million euros (+8.2%)
Labor costs were nearly 250 million euros, 16.8% higher than the previous year. meanwhile:
- Director’s salary fell 17.5% to 783,000 euros
- The senior management received the same 2.6 million euros as in 2023, split into 14 executives.
Last year, the company fired only 47 Spanish employees, highlighting the harsh contrast with this year’s cuts of over 300.
Erickson’s decision could mark the beginning of a wider layoff in Europe’s struggling telecom industry.
View all business news.
