Sweden's Telia to Cut About 900 Jobs Across the Group, 260 of Them in Sweden, in Bid to Save 1 Billion Crowns a Year
STOCKHOLM — Swedish telecom operator Telia announced on Monday, October 12, that it plans to cut around 900 jobs across the group and lower its annual operating cost base by 1 billion Swedish crowns (about $100 million). About 260 of the positions are in Sweden, while Finland faces the largest reduction at around 280, with further cuts planned in Norway, Lithuania and Estonia.
According to the company, the proposal covers both employees and resource consultants and remains subject to union negotiations. Sweden is Telia's home and largest market, where it employs about 6,000 people. Alongside the reductions, Telia proposes moving around 220 positions, mainly from its shared technology operation, into its country units. Chief Executive Patrik Hofbauer said the changes would strengthen those country units and make the company more efficient, while acknowledging that the proposals involved difficult decisions and that affected employees would need support.
On the financial side, Telia expects restructuring costs of around 600 million crowns in the fourth quarter of 2026. It aims to complete the changes by December 31, subject to the negotiations, and says the targeted saving of 1 billion crowns a year would deliver its full annual benefit to free cash flow from 2028 — a profile in which the costs land first and the savings build later. The final number of job losses could still change during the negotiation process.
Telia is one of the leading telecom operators in the Nordic and Baltic region, headquartered in Sweden with operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania and Estonia. The group-wide plan comes as European telecom operators broadly streamline their organisations and squeeze costs in a period of slower growth. For Telia's Swedish workforce of about 6,000, the outcome of the union talks and the final headcount will be the key questions over the remaining weeks of the year.
Source: Compiled from Reuters' October 12, 2026 report on Telia's job cuts and cost-base target, and DailySweden's October 12, 2026 report on the country-by-country distribution and timetable.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于斯德哥尔摩法斯塔（Farsta）的Telia办公大楼与Telia塔，CC BY-SA 3.0（Wikimedia Commons，摄影：Holger.Ellgaard）
