Mobile-phone giant Nokia plans to slash 700 more jobs worldwide in the next few months amid weakening demand for its products. The announcement Monday by Espoo, Finland-based Nokia comes just two months after the company first said it would shrink its handset unit and cut 1,000 jobs.

Last month, Nokia continued cost-cutting measures by starting its global Voluntary Resignation Package, which offered the first 1,000 employees who volunteered to leave severance packages. The company plus encouraged employees to take holidays as instance off instead of taking cash compensation.

Monday’s announcement of 700 job cuts brings the total to 1,700. While the cuts will be global, Finland alone will see nearly 700 jobs eliminated.

Along with its handset unit, Nokia plans to cut jobs in sales, corporate development, marketing and in other global support functions. Last month it cut back production at its Salo facility in Finland.

Global Demand Down

Nokia executives say the cuts are part of the company’s initial plans to adjust its business operations after its January 2008 acquisition of Symbian. Nokia acquired the remaining 52 percent of the company in an effort to better compete with Google’s Android.

The most recent cuts, however, came considering of slowed market demand. In January, the company announced a poor fourth quarter, with a 69 percent drop in profits. Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo blamed the job cuts and lower profits on reduced demand for mobile handsets.

“I think the job cuts are a outcome of the very fit market environment and not necessarily a symptom of specific issues Nokia is facing,” said Carolina Milanesi, a U.K.-based research director for mobile devices at Gartner. “It is clear that cost control is paramount today.”

“Nokia needs to strengthen its high-end portfolio while continuing to deliver good value for money devices like the ones we saw in Barcelona,” Milanesi said. She…

[Source] dhiram