After Cisco’s announcement to lay off 1,300 employees, now Norway's Telenor also has made a latest announcement regarding a job cut of 2,000 employees in India. The latest 2,000 job cut is equal to over 11 percent of Telenor’s 17,500 strong India workforce. 

Telenor’s latest job cut is backed by its cost-cutting drive and reallocation of resources in the run-up to participate in the upcoming 2G airwaves auction.

It is reportedly said that, out of the 2,000 people being laid off, nearly 400 are on the rolls of its India unit (Uninor), while the remaining 1,600 are on the rolls of the Telenor’s distributors. 

Telenor is reportedly planning to carry out the latest job cut in India by scaling down GSM operations in four regions namely Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Odisha. 

Presently, Telenor is commercially active on 13 zones for unlocking and reallocating funds to more profitable regions, amid the continuing policy uncertainty on the sale of 2G airwaves.

Tor Odland, vice-president (group communications) at Telenor has shared his views that as Telenor gradually scales down in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Odisha circles, it will also evaluate possibilities of relocating some of the employees to other Uninor circles and also provide assistance in securing employment outside the company.