The company, which is 41 percent owned by the Swedish state, said that it hoped the layoffs would reduce operating costs by 2.6 billion Swedish kronor a year, following a one-off hit of 1.4 billion kronor in the first half of next year as a result of redundancy pay-offs and other restructuring charges. 

“This is a tough decision, but one that is necessary to ensure the long-term success of Telia,” Patrik Hofbauer, the company’s President and CEO, said in a press release.

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He said that as well as cutting costs, he hoped the more streamlined organisational structure would make the company “simpler and faster in decision-making and commercial execution” and also help grow the business. 

The company plans to lay off 1,400 employees in Sweden, 635 in Finland, 245 in Norway, 400 in Lithuania, 160 in Estonia and 160 elsewhere, axing about one in seven of its 19,370 employees. 

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The 3,000 cuts refer to both employees and “resource consultants” employed through supplier companies. 

Now the company has signalled its intention to make the cuts, it will start negotiations with unions over how they will be carried out and which employees will be affected.