Ericsson to cut 1550 jobs in Sweden

Ericsson plans to cut almost 10% of its Swedish workforce as it strives to remain competitive in the crowded telecommunication-equipment market.

The majority of the 1,550 cuts will be in the company’s main networks division and in research and development, sales and administration. More than 17,000 of the company’s 109,000 employees are based in Sweden.

Stora Enso to cut 240 jobs

Forest industry giant Stora Enso announced 240 job cuts from its mills in Finland, Sweden, France and Germany.

Some 40 jobs are to go at its Veitsiluoto Mill in the northern Finnish town of Kemi although a sizable machine investment has also been unveiled.

Ericsson to lay off up to 500 staff worldwide

Chip maker ST-Ericsson says it plans to cut up to 500 jobs worldwide as part of a move to save $120 million a year.

The joint venture between Swedish wireless equipment firm LM Ericsson AB and Swiss chipmaker STMicroelectronics said Thursday it will launch a new cost-cutting plan to achieve the savings by the end of 2012.

Finnair to lay off 450 workers

Finnair PLC says it will lay off 450 people in technical services and transfer dozens of others in an attempt to further cut costs.

The national carrier said Thursday that the layoffs and restructuring are unavoidable because “base maintenance of aircraft … is deeply unprofitable.”

Electrolux AB cutting 3,000 jobs

Electrolux AB, Europe’s largest maker of kitchen appliances, abandoned its full-year profit target and said it will cut more than 3,000 jobs after demand plunged in Europe and North America.

Operating profit at the maker of Frigidaire appliances totaled 2.7 billion kronor ($340 million) as of November and a goal of 3.3 billion kronor will be impossible to reach after a sudden drop in orders, the Stockholm-based company said.

Electrolux fell as much as 7.4 percent in the Swedish capital today after cutting its 2008 outlook for a third time this year. It is the latest global appliance maker to announce job cuts after the global credit crunch and U.S. housing slump clips demand. Larger rival Whirlpool Corp. is eliminating 5,000 positions and the maker of KitchenAid gear on Oct. 28 forecast lower annual profit.

“This is not enough in our view to offset the triple headwinds of weak mix, falling volumes and rising raw-material costs,” said Ben Maslen, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. He rates the stock “underperform.”