Huawei vs. USA: Two thirds of all researchers in the USA dismissed, decision in England postponed
A wave of redundancies hits Huawei USA. In England, however, the decision on a ban has been postponed. There is a lack of concrete information, says Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright.
Huawei is laying off over 600 of the 850 employees at its Futurewei Technologies research wing in the USA. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, this is a direct consequence of the "curtailment of the business relationship" between the USA and China. The USA placed Huawei on the so-called Entity List in May. US companies are prohibited from doing business with companies whose names appear on the list.
There are 1200 left
In practice, for Futurewei this means that researchers in the USA cannot do their job. The entry on the Entity List prohibits them from transferring the knowledge they have researched from the USA to China. An employee of Futurewei told Reuters that work at Futurewei almost came to a standstill following the entry on the Entity List.
Although Huawei's presence in the USA is shrinking, 1200 jobs remain across the entire US subsidiary. Most of these are in the areas of customer service, public affairs and Supply Chain Management. The wave of redundancies at Futurewei is already the second of its kind after mobile communications giant AT&T discontinued its collaboration with Huawei.
England postpones the decision
An analogue to the USA, talks are underway in England to ban British companies from working with Huawei. According to Business Insider, Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright has told the House of Commons that the country is "not yet in a position" to make a decision on the Huawei case. In England, however, it is not just about smartphones, but above all about the implementation of 5G infrastructure.
Instead of making a hasty decision, Wright has gone on record to say that the information about Huawei provided by the USA is unclear: "It would be wrong to make specific decisions related to Huawei."
People in the UK government have repeatedly dismissed the security concerns about Huawei, especially the accusations of espionage. In March, the UK issued a warning that the company's equipment was riddled with software errors.
But: England is very close to the USA. The USA can therefore exert pressure. <p
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