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Nokia’s January 2008 decision to close its mobile-phone plant in Bochum, Germany, sparked calls from German government figures to boycott Nokia products. The dispute was about more than roughly 2,300 jobs: it also raised questions about public subsidies, the treatment of worker representatives, and how a company should account for the human cost of moving production.
What Nokia announced in Bochum
On 15 January 2008, Nokia said it would discontinue mobile-device production in Germany and close its Bochum site by mid-2008, transferring manufacturing to other European locations. Nokia estimated that approximately 2,300 employees would be affected. The company said Bochum was not globally competitive and could not meet its cost-efficiency and flexible-capacity requirements. Veli Sundbäck, then a Nokia executive vice president and chairman of the supervisory board of Nokia GmbH, said the closure was “necessary to secure Nokia’s long-term competitiveness.” Nokia’s 15 January 2008 announcement
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Why politicians called for a boycott
German government members called for a boycott amid public anger over the closure, scrutiny of public subsidies Nokia had received, and criticism that employee representatives had not been told before the decision was announced. European Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen called Nokia’s conduct “the product of a new religion which idolises shareholder value”; Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück described it as “caravan capitalism.” European labour-relations report on the closure
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What happened to consultation and worker support
Consultation followed the decision
Nokia said it would begin consultations with employee representatives after announcing the closure. The Bochum works council and European Works Council later complained they had not been informed beforehand. Consultation begun on 20 February 2008 addressed how to organize the closure in a socially acceptable way, not whether Nokia would reverse the decision. European labour-relations report on the closure
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Compensation and reintegration assistance
A 2008 European labour-relations report put the social plan for 2,300 workers at about €200 million, including compensation and a transfer company. Nokia’s account, cited in that report, described an average of 3,200 workers employed annually at Bochum—a different measure from the approximately 2,300 employees Nokia said would be affected by the closure. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Separately, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs records €5.6 million in European Globalisation Adjustment Fund support for former Bochum employees. The programme targeted 1,316 former employees for reintegration support from August 2008 to January 2010. The ministry described Bochum as Germany’s last large mobile-phone manufacturer plant. Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs programme record
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Did Nokia receive subsidies before moving production?
Public subsidies were part of the political controversy surrounding the closure, and officials questioned Nokia over support it had received. The available accounts establish that subsidy questions helped fuel the backlash, but do not provide the amount, terms, or repayment obligations of any earlier subsidy. The €5.6 million recorded by the ministry was later European support for affected workers, not evidence of an earlier subsidy to Nokia. European labour-relations report Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs programme record
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The calls to boycott Nokia arose from the 2008 Bochum closure. They are not connected to Nokia’s later German restructuring. Deutschlandfunk reported in November 2025 that Nokia planned about 300 job cuts in Germany in 2026 and a Munich site closure by 2030, with more than 500 additional jobs affected. Deutschlandfunk’s November 2025 report
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