What a difference a year makes. Finnish phone giant Nokia, which last April was trumpeting a big expansion in Kirkland, now plans to close its office there. The company established a presence in Puget Sound in 2007 when it bought Twango, a mobile photo and video sharing startup.
Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong declined to give a timeline for closing the Kirkland office or say how many employees work there, but said the closure "could potentially involve layoffs." She said some of the responsibilities of the Kirkland operation will be shifted to "nearby" Nokia offices. Nokia has offices in Bellevue, Vancouver, B.C., and California, she said.
Nokia on April 28 announced plans to streamline its services business, which includes consumer internet, mobile, and gaming, and said 450 employees would be affected globally. The majority of the Nokia Kirkland employees work for the services business, Armstrong said. Nokia in March announced plans to cut 1,700 jobs in sales, marketing and other areas.
Last April, Nokia had grand plans for Kirkland. The phone giant planned a Kirkland facility with room for 125 workers. The company at the time had 51 workers at temporary offices in Bellevue, and aimed to double that number by the end of 2008. Twango co-founder Serena Glover was heading up Nokia's local operations.
Glover joined Nokia after the company bought Twango for an undisclosed sum in 2007. The 10-person startup operated out of the basement of Glover's Redmond home.
Update: Glover is no longer with Nokia, the company said, though Armstrong suggested her departure predated recent developments at the Kirkland office.
"I was able to confirm that Serena is no longer with Nokia and from what I understand she has been gone for a while (in other words, nothing to do with last week)," Armstrong wrote in an email.
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