In a bid to boost profitability, European telecommunication and pharmaceutical parts molder Perlos Corp. plans to cut 120 jobs and focus on high-end products at its plant in Kontiolahti, Finland.
The company already has cut 30 jobs from its work force of 520 since the end of January, according to Perlos of Nurmijärvi, Finland.
The layoff plan prompted a 24-hour work stoppage in protest Jan. 30 at its other plants in the region.
Perlos has been reorganizing production and switching the product emphasis at the Finnish plant, which will concentrate increasingly on molded products for the high-end mobile phone market.
The company initiated negotiations with workers at the Lehmonharju facility in Kontiolahti, and Perlos executives said they aim to conclude the layoffs later this year.
Those actions follow earlier cutbacks by the firm in Finland last year in response to the global crash in the telecommunications market.
In 2002, the group's Finnish subsidiary, Perlos Oyj, laid off 170 workers when it closed its technical plastics molding plant at Nurmijärvi.
The company also has opened new plants in Hungary and China, in response to moves by original equipment manufacturers to produce in those lower-cost regions. However, Perlos stressed that its decision to invest in foreign production units has not negatively affected the operation of plants at home.
``On the contrary, our investments in international production have enabled us to secure production also in Finland.
``The Finnish plants have a key role in the Perlos international plant network, and their operations will be developed with a long-term focus,'' said Perlos President Timo Leinilä.
``In the future the Finnish plants will specialize, above all, in the manufacture of high-end products.''
At the end of last year, 2,300 of the group's total global work force of 4,000 were located in Finland. Perlos also has operations in Brazil, England, Sweden, Hungary, Singapore, Malaysia, China and in Fort Worth, Texas.
