Electrolux appliances firm to axe 3,000 jobs

Appliances firm Electrolux is to shed 3,000 workers as a result of sharply declining sales.

The Swedish company, which employs around 600 staff in the UK, said the job cuts would affect all its operations worldwide.

Electrolux closed a factory in Spennymoor, County Durham, under previous cost-cutting plans earlier this year.

The company said demand for appliances had weakened in the last two weeks of November and in December, and issued a profits warning for the full year.

It has scrapped previous income targets of up to 3.9bn Swedish Kronor (£326m) for the full year and said its December income could drop into negative territory as the sharply slowing sales hit a traditionally slower period.

More than 3,000 workers would be made redundant in the fourth quarter of this year, followed by more job cuts in 2009.

Electrolux estimated the cost of the job cuts would be around 1.2bn Kronor (£100m) and amount to an annual saving of 1.1bn Kronor (£92m).

The company, which has a UK office in Luton and its head office in Stockholm, employs 57,000 people worldwide.

It said it would also continue will plans to shift production to low-cost countries in a restructuring plan to be completed by 2010, which will further reduce the company's headcount.