More than 700 trainees at Nokia’s Sriperumbudur facility near Chennai have resigned. They have opted for the company’s voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) scheme, according to Nokia’s employee union.

The company is involved in income tax dispute with the centre government and a sales tax dispute with the Tamil Nadu government.

Nokia has about 8,000 workers. They will be jobless if the company is shut due to the recent tax related disputes and the sale of Nokia to Microsoft. There was apprehension among the workers that VRS would be thrust up on them, even though the company always maintained that it was optional.

The Nokia-Microsoft deal was expected to end by March. However, it has been delayed by a month and India unit has been kept outside it.