Ericsson staff prepared for the worst

The telecoms equipment maker is expected to finalise a deal with Flextronics this week to outsource handset manufacturing. The deal will result in 3,500 staff leaving Ericsson's payroll.
In addition, 2,000 staff are expected to leave Ericsson's direct sales team as a result of a deal with Apax Partners UK. On 8 March, Ericsson announced that Apax had bought its Enterprise direct sales and service operations in 18 countries for E528m (?324m). The new company, Enterprise Solutions, will be Ericsson Enterprise's largest indirect sales channel. Ericsson will retain a 20 per cent stake in the company and work with Apax Partners to develop the business.
Ericsson has also implemented a recruitment freeze across the entire company.
By Nik Hole