File photo: IC

Finnish telecom giant Nokia and US technology conglomerate Cisco denied reports of significant layoffs in China when contacted by the Global Times on Thursday.

"We are aware of claims that Nokia is planning large-scale layoffs in Chengdu. These claims are untrue," a Nokia spokesperson said.

Rumors began circulating on Tuesday that Nokia plans massive layoffs in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province as the company considers shifting part of its business to India.

The ongoing restructuring at "our Chengdu research and development (R&D) site only affects part of one product unit and about 50-plus employees, not the entire R&D center," said the spokesperson, noting the program is part of Nokia's global strategy to improve its overall productivity and cost efficiency.

The Finnish technology company said it remains committed to China. It employs more than 10,000 R&D employees in China and operates six R&D centers across the country, according to the spokesperson.

Nokia is not the only global technology company that's been the target of speculation about layoffs in the Chinese market in recent days.

US-based Cisco is also rumored to have laid off an entire department in Shanghai and offered the affected employees a severance package of N+7 months of salary. That would take the severance payout to more than 1 million yuan ($144,940) per person on average, according to reports making the rounds on Chinese social media on Thursday.

In a statement emailed to the Global Times on Thursday, Cisco said the information seen in social media postings is untrue. 

"It's important that we make decisions to continually ensure that our investments and resources are aligned with strategic growth areas of the business and customer demand," read the statement. "As we realign some of our teams, we are working closely with impacted employees to match them where possible with the wide variety of roles currently open across Cisco."