The company wrote in a press release that the layoffs were "part of a set of measures aimed at ensuring the company's competitive position."
Ericsson has around 12,600 staff in Sweden, meaning that as many as one in ten of the company's workers in Sweden could be let go.
The company said that it has started discussions with trade unions, but did not provide information as to which offices may be hit the hardest. It has offices in eight Swedish cities: Stockholm, Linköping, Gothenburg, Lund, Karlskrona, Borås, Kumla and Luleå.
According to the union, this announcement came as a big surprise.
"For most employees, this came completely unexpectedly. There have been positive comments otherwise," says Per Norlander, group union negotiator for the Swedish Association of Engineers.
Ericsson's press officer Ralf Begner says that the layoffs are a consequence of the competitive pressure in the telecom industry.
"This is part of a global initiative," says Begner. "The mobile network market is very tough and competitive. The market has not shown any growth at the same time as we see that inflationary pressure continues," he tells newswire service TT.
"It is always sad to have to make decisions that affect employees and it is very important that we will be able to inform those affected first," says Ralf Begner. "I cannot say exactly how long it will take [to go through the layoff process] but our ambition is for it to be completed during the year."
Not an isolated case for Ericsson
This is not the first time the company has announced layoffs in recent years. In March 2024, it planned to give notice to as many as 1,200 workers, a figure which was later reduced after negotiations with unions.
"This will directly impact the core business, research and development," says Swedish Engineering union negotiator Per Norlander. "It is a brutal way of doing it," he continues. "This is not good for the company."
No kind of general redundancy package has yet been presented to the union.
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