From Greg Milam, Sky News Europe Correspondent
How do you upset a whole country in one fell swoop?
Ask the Finns who appear to have alienated most Germans. And mobile phones are involved again.
Here in Helsinki they are genuinely shocked by the response over the Baltic to the decision by their mobile phone giant Nokia to close a factory in Bochum.
The Financial Times reports that the term ‘Nokia’ has now entered German slang as referring to an uncaring corporate attitude, making huge profits without any consideration for the worker.
When the factory closed, 2,300 people lost their jobs and the Germans are particularly unhappy that Nokia didn’t try to soften the blow by giving warnings in the run-up to the announcement.
That would be the way in most of Europe, the Germans say, explain that cuts are needed and then later announce the job losses.
Nokia is unrepentant. A spokesman told the newspaper that the German way would only “lengthen the pain. False hopes do not necessarily make the situation better. You can only announce bad news once.”
The Finns say it comes down to a cultural difference: they say they don’t like having such discussions in public.
The story is also another chapter in the big move east for major European employers. The work of the Bochum factory has been moved to Romania.
And maybe there are some winners out of the international fuss. The German Nokia workers got a pay-off of more than £60,000 each, one of the highest in the country’s history, although Nokia denies that this any attempt to buy their way out of controversy.
How strange that the closure of the Nokia factory should upset the Germans. I used to work for a Freight and Supply Chain company called MSAS Global Logistics who operated the Bochum factory on behalf of Nokia. MSAS were bought out by DHL in 2006, DHL are owned by Deutche Poste. So really, the Germans should be upset at the Germans and not the Finns.
Posted by: David Atkinson - Gosport May 27, 2008 12:47:46 PM
As to the quesiton how to upset, well allow me to duly assist proceedings.
You see, the telephony market is submerged with more handset models than birds and bees, yet for some reason or the other, mobile operators restrict phones to their own network, market them as exclusive and hey presto, the custome ris upset when he can;t go to anothr network of preferred choice.
The fact is that no matter what make or model phone, they are not in any way exclusive, suffic eto say it is the sim car that provides exclusive network services. So, I wont upset you further if you stop this illicit practice [Pink-There You Go].
Posted by: Khalid May 15, 2008 7:55:23 AM