Nokia Siemens Networks,  a telecom equipment manufacturer based in German and Finland has recently announced it intentions to layoff a significant workers. The company is looking to get rid of workers in eight different countries, and this will mean a loss of about 17,000 jobs . Of the cut we do know that   2,900 job cuts in Germany and 1,200 in Finland. The rest of the cuts will come from workers in the other six nations that will be getting the job cuts, meaning that they will bear the brunt of it.

A representative for the company told a reporter for The China Post about the layoffs, “The discussions concern 1,200 out of 6,900 employees in Finland and 2,900 out of 9,100 in Germany,”

Of course layoffs in any country are subject to the laws of that nation, which can vary wildly. Some of you may remember this from our earlier coverage on Layoffs in China, but for those of you who do not here is an excerpt:

“As it turns out the Chinese layoff system is very different than the American one. In America when a company lays off staff the government has little to do with it, short of managing the unemployment insurance benefits. In China Inventec has to submit a report about the layoffs to the government for the city of Taipei. The city will then investigate the claims that have been made in the report. If the city of Taipei decides that the claims made in the report were false then the city can make the company take back some or all of the laid off staff. In addition the company could be fined as much as NT$300,000 if they choose not to comply with the reinstatement order.

Apparently the government is also proactive about layoffs. When the plan was announced Labor Standards Division Chief for the city of the Taipei sent a request to the company for more information, so that he could make a complete investigation of the planned layoffs.

As per the Labor Standards Division regulations the company must help the employees to find new jobs within the organization, if it is at all possible, though there is no word at this point if that will actually happen, since the company scaled down in response to a clients change of heart.”

These are not the first hints of job cuts that the company has made in the past. The initial

“These planned reductions are regrettable but necessary — and it is our goal to make them in a fair and responsible way, providing the support we can to employees and communities,” NSN chief executive Rajeev Suri, said in a statement when they made the initial announcement.

The job losses will begin on the 8th of February. While the company is offering up a retraining program to help employees get through these tough time, the rest of the benefits that the workers will get from this loss will depend on the laws in their home nation.