It was reported in Spanish press earlier this week that Diego Martínez, CEO of Ericcson’s Spanish subsidiary has been dismissed amid a restructure. Martinez took the reins in November 2024 after joining from MasOrange where he held the role of director of customers and products.
The move comes amid a regional consolidation and planned job cuts affecting up to 13% of Ericsson Spain’s workforce.
Martínez’s departure signals a loss of autonomy for the Spanish arm of the Swedish telecoms equipment giant, as Ericsson moves to centralise control over its Western European operations.
According to reports all commercial activity in Spain will be managed by Christian Leon, the French executive currently overseeing Ericsson’s Western European Customer Unit. The change places Spain under a new, larger regional cluster that also includes France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Portugal which effectively dissolves the previous Iberian region structure that Spain once led alongside Portugal.
This restructuring is part of Ericsson’s broader decision to reduce its EMEA country clusters from seven to three. Industry sources say the reshuffle is not merely administrative: it will trigger significant changes to Ericsson Spain’s internal management structure.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Ericsson is preparing to cut up to 300 jobs in Spain, amounting to approximately 13% of its local workforce of 2,260 employees. In 2023, Ericsson slashed 8,500 jobs worldwide (around 8% of its global workforce). In Sweden alone, the company reduced headcount by 1,200 employees as part of efforts to trim costs by €800 million.
Ericsson has not issued an official statement on the dismissal of Martínez or the forthcoming layoffs, but further announcements are expected in the coming weeks as the restructuring process unfolds.
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