Nokia to cut another 1,700 jobs worldwide

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Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, said Tuesday it planned to cut another 1,700 jobs worldwide as part of cost-cutting measures.

"Altogether these plans will affect approximately 1,700 employees globally. Where applicable, Nokia will start consultations with employee representatives about these plans," the company said in a statement.

The new lay-offs would affect people working at the company's device and markets units, as well as at its corporate development and global support divisions, it added.

Nokia's head of communications, Arja Suominen, told AFP the new job cuts were part of previously announced plans to slash costs by around 700 million euros (909 million dollars) or more over the next couple of years.

"We have since announced several initiatives. This is a new initiative," she said.

When Nokia in January reported a 69-percent slump in its fourth-quarter earnings due to falling handset prices and sales, company chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said job cuts would be necessary but declined to forecast how many employees would be made redundant.

The company announced last month it planned to cut 1,000 jobs globally through voluntary departures.

After the Tuesday's announcement, Nokia saw its stock price slip 2.0 percent to 8.81 euros per share in late morning trading on the Helsinki stock exchange, which was down 0.6 percent.