Nokia Oyi (NOK1V) will be facing what may be the steepest job cuts in 20 years in order to start a partnership with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). As many as 6.000 jobs are under threat. That would be approximately 38 per cent of the Finnish company global devices R&D workforce. Nevertheless the company has not made these figures official. According to Bloomberg, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop said on February 9 that that Nokia will adopt Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 as its main smartphone operating system over the next two years, a move triggering “substantial reductions in employment.” The latter is the result of an identity crisis as of late since its share at the high end is being devoured by iOS and Android.

The finnish company recently published its Q4 2011 financials, revealing net sales of €10 billion ($13.1 billion), down 21 percent year-on-year. Of this total, Nokia's Devices & Services division generated €5.9 billion ($7.8 billion), down 29 percent year-on-year. Nokia also made a group operating loss of €956 million ($1.3 billion), with the Nokia Siemens Networks division posting profits of €67 million ($88 million) according to IFRS rules.

 Nokia’s current market share is the lowest its been since 1997, nearly 14 years ago.Between Q1 2010 and Q1 2011, Nokia’s share fell 5.5 percentage points.