As the global economic slowdown intensifies, tech giants continue to fire employees at an alarming number. Joining the list of companies laying off staff is telecoms gear maker Ericsson. The company is gearing up to cut about 1,400 jobs in Sweden. 

According to a report by Reuters, the step is taken as part of a broader plan to reduce costs globally. Prior to this, Ericsson announced its plans to cut costs by 9 billion crowns ($880 million) by the end of 2023. All because of the decreasing demand in some markets, including North America.

Sweden is not the only country where Ericsson is planning to reduce its workforce, if media reports are to be believed, several thousand workers in other countries are also likely to be fired in the coming days.

This isn’t the first time the company has taken such drastic measures to save costs. Back in 2017, Ericsson laid off thousands of employees and focused on research to pull the company out of losses.

The company came to the decision to cut jobs after negotiating with its employee union in Sweden for months. They deliberated on how to handle cost cuts. 

Now, the agreement has been reached with Swedish unions on how to manage headcount reductions, a spokesperson said and added that the company intends to make the cuts through a voluntary programme.