How is the Nokia business doing, any impact of the COVID19 pandemic?

Hi Sarah, Thanks for the question. Nokia business delivered solid first quarter results see here: (https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2020/04/30/nokia-corporation-interim-report-for-q1/).
The ICT sector is one of the least impacted sectors during COVID-19 (compared to other sectors) so far. It's even expected to recover faster post the pandemic as the world is in need to be more connected and a lot of businesses are rethinking of accelerating their digital transformation strategies. There is also foreseen short-term impact due to COVID-19 lock-down on our customers investments, strategies, and mid-term plans.

Thanks for your question!
We’ve been reflecting on this internally and I think that although the pandemic posed many challenges for people it also led us to re-evaluate not only where we work but how we work.

Long before the pandemic, Nokia embraced a hybrid working model. Remote working, flexible work/life arrangements and choice have always been part of Nokia’s cultural DNA. That meant we were able to seamlessly transition to working from home as mandatory restrictions were imposed across the globe. Our people kept supporting our customers and growing our business from home. However, as months turned into years, it was clear that we needed to be more intentional about how we manage this new flexible reality.

During the pandemic, regular check-ins with our people have become increasingly critical, with normal routines turned upside down and no commute to force us to physically disconnect from work at the end of the day, the boundaries between work and life blurred. Many aspects of our social lives were on hold meaning that there were less of the usual distractions to take us away from our work.

One of our guiding principles at Nokia is to put our people at the heart of all that we do. Since so many have continued to thrive during these challenging times, employees were asked to help design Nokia’s future workplace, offering more choice over where they work, and for most, that meant working from home more often than before which not only supports wellbeing but enhances productivity and contributes to our sustainability initiatives.

Being open, fearless and empowered are cultural essentials for Nokia. The essentials have been demonstrated through our people being open to exploring a more balanced way of doing things, being fearless about asking for help if they need it and empowered to make good decisions about their wellbeing.

We know that meeting people face to face is still important, but it will be more purpose driven in the future, agreeing together with team colleagues when to meet to support collaboration activities and of course to strengthen those very important social connections.