680 Nortel employees offered Ericsson jobs

The company that bought Nortel's wireless division has offered jobs to 680 former Nortel employees in Ottawa.

Swedish telecom giant Ericsson confirmed Thursday that it had issued the job offers, which would allow the employees to continue work in Ottawa under the Ericsson banner. However, the move does not create any new jobs.

The employees have until the end of day to accept the offers.

Nortel, a telecommunications company that was once the crown jewel of Canada's high-technology sector, filed for bankruptcy protection in January in Canada and the United States. It is currently selling off its assets.

Courts in both countries approved the sale of Nortel's wireless assets to Ericsson for $1.13 billion US in July.

A court-supervised auction for Nortel's enterprise unit takes place Friday.