Mob-tastic?!
Nokia is under pressure on 2 fronts from shareholders and its own employees after the unpopular announcement that it will ditch Symbian in favour of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.
While a union for some of Nokia's employees is demanding a payout for every worker laid off in Finland, another group supposedly made up of small shareholders is calling for CEO Stephen Elop's head on a platter and a reversal of Nokia's plans, The WSJ reported.
It seemed like only a matter of time until the revolt began, given the Nokia's shares took a battering upon the Microsoft news and Elop, who hailed from Microsoft has been portrayed as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
A group of 9 anonymous shareholders who claim to have worked at Nokia in the past, have now reportedly published a manifesto called Nokia Plan B to present at Nokia's annual GM on 3 May, intent on dissolving the Microsoft partnership and reverting back to the Symbian and MeeGo model.
As well as calling for the immediate resignation of Elop, the group has apparently made it clear it wants MeeGo as the firm's main smartphone platform and to eke out Symbian's existence for at least 5 years, as well as a restructuring of the Microsoft deal for North America.
Nokia spokeswoman Mona Kopponen told The WSJ: "Nokia's new strategy has full approval from the board of directors and the Nokia leadership team, and our focus now is on the execution of this new strategy."
However as well as worrying about disgruntled shareholders, Nokia has a new battle on its hands as the Finnish Trade union Pro, which represents around a quarter of the firm's workers, is irked that Nokia's move to Microsoft's platform will mean it will slash research and development costs in its Symbian platform and likely cut jobs too.
The union is reportedly demanding that Nokia forks out a whopping €100,000 to each employee who loses their job because of the change in strategy.
Antti Rinne, chairman of trade union Pro, reportedly said: "It would be reasonable that those who lose their jobs would receive a lump sum of €100,000 in addition to their severance payment to help finance their reeducation."
While Nokia has neither agreed nor disagreed with Pro's terms, its spokeswoman said it takes its reponsibility as an employer ‘seriously'.
She apparently added: "When the planning proceeds and we get more visibility to the personnel related impact of our strategy, we will invest time and resources in supporting our employees who are impacted by the changes."
Pro reckons Nokia could slash as many as 5,000 jobs in Finland- around a quarter of its workforce in the country. However, there is no news on how many jobs might be at risk from Nokia yet.
