1,000 workers walk out on Nokia after Microsoft announcement

Nokia - not really connecting people today
Nokia - not really connecting people today

Nokia has had a day to end all days today, with news that the company announcing it is ditching Symbian in favour of Windows Phone 7 prompting 1,000 of its employees to walk out.

This is according to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, which is reporting that workers are protesting with their feet at Nokia's Oulu and Tampere offices.

If the reports are accurate then this equates to a quarter of the workforce based at the two offices.

All change

The news that the company is ditching Symbian in favour of Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone OS does point to major restructural changes in the company - and while the number is unknown, CEO Stephen Elop did confirm there would be worldwide cuts.

While the majority of the workers are said to have used the company's flexi-time system to stage the walkout, it does point to unrest at the news that Nokia is embracing Windows Phone 7.

The company's shares were down by 13 per cent today, and Google had no qualms making light of the Nokia situation, with one of its recruiters tweeting that jobs were available for devs within the company.

Via Thinq

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.