Ericsson cut 5,200 Swedish jobs in two years as its services bet hollowed out R&D

Ericsson was Sweden's largest private employer and the world's biggest mobile network maker, with 115,000 staff in 180 countries. In the 2010s it expanded aggressively into managed services — running other operators' networks for them — until the division served over a billion subscribers. The strategy padded revenue but squeezed margins and pulled engineers away from core R&D.

By 2014, earnings were falling. In March 2015, Ericsson announced 2,200 Swedish cuts, mostly in R&D and supply, aiming to save 9 billion kronor by 2017. The cuts did not stabilise the business. Revenue kept declining, and in July 2016 CEO Hans Vestberg stepped down after six years. Interim CEO Jan Frykhammar announced a second round in October: another 3,000 Swedish jobs, nearly 20% of the local workforce.

Börje Ekholm took over as CEO in January 2017 and refocused Ericsson on core network equipment, exiting media and managed services. The restructuring cost billions of kronor but restored profitability by 2019. Ericsson went on to become a leading 5G supplier — the position it had been too distracted to hold three years earlier.