Nokia’s sagging financial performance is resulting in more job losses in Finland this year. The vendor today announced plans to cut about 180 jobs in its home country beginning next week and hinted at more to come.

This latest wave of job losses for the vendor are being driven by the company’s ongoing goal to reduce costs by $556 million by the end of 2020. Nokia previously slashed its profit outlook through 2020 amid heightened competition in the early stages of 5G deployments.

The company expects its recovery efforts to result in improved financial performance in 2021, but the reduced guidance contrasts with Ericsson, which is forecasting growth through 2020.

Nokia said it hired around 370 employees in Finland last year and reiterated plans to increase investment in 5G technology and automation. The company currently has about 6,000 employees in Finland.

“The savings program we launched in 2018 has progressed as planned. We will continue to improve our operational capability and ensure the long-term competitiveness of the company,” said Tommi Uitto, Nokia’s head of mobile networks, in a statement. “These decisions are not easy and we will do our best to support our staff during the change process.”

The company previously set out to reduce costs by $779 million, but reduced that goal to $556 million in the final quarter of 2019. Nokia also hinted at future job losses that will impact employees in other countries.

"The plans we are announcing today are expected to lead to headcount reductions globally. The implementation of these plans will follow country-specific timelines and processes," the company said in a statement provided to SDxCentral.

Nokia executives blamed its reduced outlook on high costs associated with its first generation 5G products, challenges in China, and pricing pressure in early 5G deals. Nokia’s market cap is down 20% from three months ago.

Earlier this month, Nokia announced it had reached 63 commercial 5G contracts to date. The vendor also said it’s involved in another few dozen trials, pilots, and demonstrations of the technology globally. “We have more than 350 customers in 4G, but these first 63 customers represent some two third of our global radio access networks business in a typical year,” Uitto said in a statement last week.

Nokia is scheduled to issue its fourth quarter 2019 and full year 2019 results on Feb. 6.