Nokia factory closure could hit DHL jobs (Germany)
Jobs may be lost at DHL due to the closure of a Nokia mobile phone production plant at Bochum in north-west Germany.
The Finnish company announced yesterday it will shut down its Bochum factory due to high operating costs and transfer production to Finland and lower-cost sites in Romania and Hungary. Some 2,300 employees will lose their jobs.
But a further 2,000 jobs at a range of Nokia suppliers and sub-contractors in the region are also in danger, according to German media reports. The locally-based Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung reported that DHL is considering lying off staff as a result of the factory closure.
“When the Nokia factory closes, then it may be that jobs at DHL disappear as well,” a DHL spokesman cited. Some 200 DHL staff work directly with Nokia, and are responsible for shipping mobile phones to various destinations.
Nokia is an important international customer for DHL Express which handles transportation and delivery of the high-value mobile phones in various markets around the world.