AFP

Helsinki, Feb 11: Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, said on Wednesday it would reorganise its research and development operations in its native Finland and aimed to cut more than 400 jobs.

Nokia will close down its site in Jyvaeskylae by the end of this year and lay off talks will concern all 320 employees there.

"The planned closure of the Jyvaeskylae site is an unfortunate, yet unavoidable measure.

"We must adjust our resources to reflect reduced market demand in order to maintain our competitiveness also in the future," Peter Roepke, senior vice president at Nokia's Devices research and development, said in a statement.

Nokia will concentrate its Finnish research and development operations to the Helsinki region, Tampere, Oulu and Salo.

In its global support functions, Nokia also aims to cut 60 jobs, and in its new businesses entity some 30 employees will be made redundant.

At the Salo plant, the company plans to temporarily lay off about 2,500 workers without interrupting the operations of the plant, because Nokia needs to adapt its handset production to the lower demand.

Last month, Nokia reported sharply shrinking profits in the fourth quarter due to falling handset prices and sales, and said it would launch a cost cutting programme that would include job cuts to boost profitability.

After the announcement shares in Nokia were up 0.10 per cent at 9.80 euros, while the general Helsinki bourse index was 6.79 per cent lower.