The Ericsson executive carousal continues to spin, with the Sweden-based equipment and software vendor saying goodbye to a pair of former executives and promoting another.
Those leaving the company, effective today, include former CFO and former interim CEO Jan Frykhammar, and EVP Magnus Mandersson. Both most recently served as advisors to Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm.
Frykhammar had been at Ericsson since 1991. He was named interim CEO in mid-2016 following the departure of long-time CEO Hans Vestberg. Frykhammar relinquished the title early this year with the arrival of Ekholm. Frykhammar did remain an EVP at the company, an advisor to Ekholm, and a member of Ericsson’s executive team, until today.
Mandersson joined Ericsson in 2004 and held numerous senior positions. Those included head of its Business Unit Global Services, head of its Northern Europe business, and senior vice president for its CDMA Mobile Systems unit. Mandersson most recently had been serving as an advisor to Ekholm with a focus on customer relationships.
Picking up an EVP title is Fredrik Jejdling, who currently serves as head of Ericsson’s Business Area Networks and is a member of the Ericsson executive team. Jejdling joined Ericsson in 2006.
The moves come as the vendor continues to focus on turning around its struggling operations. Ericsson last month reported another quarter of losses as it attempts to fend off competition from Huawei and Nokia and restructure its business. Ericsson’s struggles included a drop in revenues and an increase in net losses for the quarter.
The company is looking to cut $1 billion in costs, which includes thousands of job cuts. Ericsson said it has slashed 3,000 positions, with reports suggesting plans for up to 25,000 job cuts.
Verizon Bound?
In a statement, Ericsson noted Frykhammar and Mandersson are leaving the company “to pursue other opportunities.”
A number of former Ericsson executives have popped up at Verizon. This includes Vestberg, who is now CTO at Verizon; and Rima Qureshi, who was head of Ericsson’s North America business and is now EVP and chief strategy officer at Verizon.
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