Nokia to cut 1,700 jobs worldwide

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, has announced plans to shed 1,700 jobs worldwide as part of a major cost-cutting drive.

Phone sales have been hit hard by the economic downturn and the company said in January that it would cut costs by 700m euros ($910m; £647m).

The job cuts will be across a number of departments, including marketing, development and support functions.

"Nokia continues to seek savings in operational expenses," the group said.

'Big numbers'

"Altogether, these plans will affect approximately 1,700 employees globally. Where applicable, Nokia will start consultations with employee representatives about these plans," it added.

Nokia employs about 125,000 people globally.

"The number of employees we have to reduce is 1,700," confirmed Arja Suominen at Nokia.

She said about 700 jobs will go in Finland, with the US and the UK the next hardest hit.

"We are making very small changes in a large number of countries, but when you count them together you come to very big numbers," she explained.

Further details will be announced once negotiations with employees have begun, she added.

For the final three months of 2008, Nokia made a profit of 576m euros, down almost 69% from 1.84bn euros during the same period in 2007.

The company blamed the poor results on the global economic slowdown that is affecting people's ability to buy new mobile phones.