OnePlus launched its latest flagship phones, the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro, less than two weeks ago, but the Chinese phone maker is now laying off employees in regional offices throughout Europe, as first reported by Engadget.
The layoffs do not appear to be coronavirus-related, and in a blog post Saturday, Tuomas Lampen, head of strategy for OnePlus Europe said 20 employees in three offices were affected. “We have decided to make some changes to the current organizational structure within Europe to better streamline our operations while continuing to meet the needs of our growing community,” according to the post. That strategy includes hiring in the Nordic and Benelux regions, and making “organizational changes” in Germany, France, and the UK.
Helsinki is now going to be the new European HQ for OnePlus, according to Engadget, with the prior operation being based mostly in London.
This may have been a long time coming; new OnePlus 8 models in the UK can only be bought from one carrier, the international provider Three (although unlocked models bough from the company itself will still work on carriers like EE and O2). OnePlus does not appear to have strategic relationships with other carriers that operate in the UK for the OnePlus 8 line or upcoming models.
UPDATE April 25th, 4:05PM ET: Adds the number of affected employees and statement from OnePlus.
