Nokia created a program to face dismissals at its headquarters after fusion with Microsoft. 400 new companies were created by ExNokians.

Last week, the American computer giant, Microsoft, has definitely close its’ acquisition deal of the mobile phone division of Nokia. The agreement, announced in September, was delayed due to paperwork with entities controlling competition. The first result of this agreement, the Nokia Lumia 630, has been launched. Its’ Microsoft first smartphone and the first to arrive the market having Windows Phone 8.1.

Nokia, Finland most international company, has been the favourite employer among college students in the country. During its’ best years, it was Finland’s biggest employer, with 24.000 employees in the country, providing 4% of the national GDP. However, mainly Apple and Samsung, won the smartphone battle during the past few years.

By the end of 2013, the sale was announced and executed by Nokia and the amount of employees in Finnish territory was reduced to 10.600 people. Nevertheless, many of those ExNokians, as they call themselves, have created companies thanks to the good dismissal conditions and the support of the Finnish company.

To deal with dismissals, the company created the program named “Bridge”, a plan offering financial aid and labour orientation to dismissed people. Matti Vanska, chief of the Bridge program, stated during an interview with the BBC that “the company decided –from the board of directors to the high management- that they wanted to take responsibility in the best possible way, overcoming legal boundaries”.

The plan was available for 18.000 employees in 13 countries and helped ExNokians to find a new job. It offered formation, even if it was for completely different professions and assisted new entrepreneur create their own companies. In Finland, over 5.000 people used this aid, leading to 400 new start-ups.

Some of this new companies have included technology licensed by Nokia with its permission. Others, such as Jolla Mobile, have put into work ideas that were no longer considered as part of Nokia’s strategy, i.e. operative system MeeGo. Furthermore, in some cases inventions made by the company have been used to apps in other sectors, such as PulseOn, which states to have created the most precise and easy to use for sports pulse monitor.

By following the idea of putting its employees first, Nokia did not wish to reveal neither how much Bridge program cost, nor the amount of time and money invested in it. However, reliable sources have calculated that the amount is around tens of million of dollars.

Source: www.equiposytalento.com