Alibaba offers lifeline to Nokia China workers

Alibaba Group yesterday offered a glint of hope to the thousands of Nokia Corp employees expected to lose their jobs as a result of Microsoft Corp's takeover.

The United States-based software giant plans to lay off 18,000 jobs globally by next year after completing its US$7.2 billion acquisition of the former world No. 1 phone maker.

About 90 percent of Nokia's China workforce — most of whom are based in Beijing and Tianjin — are set to lose their jobs by the end of this year.

Hangzhou-based Alibaba, however, said on its Sina Weibo account that it will seek to recruit people laid off from Nokia China to help develop its cloud computing business.

"Nokia is a great company ... and we are willing to offer a platform for those employees to achieve their dreams," the world's biggest e-commerce firm said.