Ericsson is set to slash 1,200 jobs in Sweden as the telecommunications infrastructure giant prepares for a “challenging mobile networks market in 2024.”

The company said the cuts are part of its broader goal to bolster its beleaguered financial position, which it expects to be put under further near-term pressure due to “volume contraction as customers remain cautious.”

“This measure is part of the global initiatives to improve the cost position, including headcount reductions, while maintaining investments critical to Ericsson’s technology leadership,” the company explained in a statement. “Initiatives to increase operational efficiency will continue during 2024 but will not be announced separately.”

Ericsson said the “cost-saving initiatives” would also include eliminating some of its facilities, reduce work with consultants and streamline processes.

All of this work is targeted at improving Ericsson’s growth trajectory and “long-term margin targets, through leadership in mobile networks and a focused expansion into enterprise.”

Ericsson last year reportedly cut 1,400 jobs in Sweden, which was about 10% of its workforce in its home country.

The latest cuts also come just ahead of Ericsson taking on a new CFO, with Lars Sandström taking over for Carl Mellander. Sandström is currently CFO at medical technology firm Getinge.

Despite its position as one of the world’s three largest telecommunications vendors, Ericsson has struggled to right its financial picture.

Ericsson ended last year on a high as the vendor scored a highly publicized $14 billion open radio access network (RAN) deal with AT&T. However, the vendor noted that proceeds from that sale are not expected to hit its revenue line until later this year at the earliest.

The vendor earlier this year also scored a seven-year, $450 million funding commitment with the European Investment Bank that Ericsson said would be used to finance research and development efforts.

In the meantime, Ericsson is fighting slumbering sales in North America and Europe as operators take an investment breath between 5G technology cycles; dwindling sales from India, which were driving revenues last year due to a rapid 5G build program; and only a small presence in China, which is dominated by China-based competitors Huawei and ZTE.

Ericsson posted a 3% drop in revenues last year compared to 2022, with company management bracing investors for further headwinds through the first half of 2024.

“As we look ahead, 2024 will be a difficult year and market conditions will prevail,” CEO Börje Ekholm said during Ericsson’s most recent earnings call. “And so we currently expect the current market outside of China to further decline as our customers remain cautious and the investment pace normalizes in India.”

Ericsson’s enterprise expansion has been slower than expected, highlighted by the vendor late last year slashing the value of its Vonage Holdings assets in half due “to the significant drop in the market capitalization of Vonage’s publicly traded peers, increased interest rates and overall slowdown in Vonage’s core markets.” That core market is the enterprise space, which Vonage is targeting through its network API capabilities and is what drove Ericsson’s controversial $6.2 billion acquisition in 2021.

Nokia is operating under similar financial challenges, which resulted in the vendor late last year announcing plans to slash up to 14,000 jobs as part of a corporate restructuring. Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark told investors that the total number of job cuts and financial impact will be tied to ongoing market conditions.

“The exact scale of the program will depend on the evolution of the market demand in the coming years,” Lundmark said. “We do expect net savings, but the magnitude will depend on how inflation develops.”