Swedish builder Skanska to cut 3,400 jobs

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: Skanska AB, the Nordic region's biggest construction group, said on Tuesday that it will slash 3,400 jobs, or almost 6 per cent of its work force, due to a weakening in the construction market.

The Swedish company said it will cut 2,000 jobs in Sweden, 800 in Norway and 600 in Finland. The cost of the savings package will be about 600 million kronor ($74 million), Skanska said.

The company has 20,500 workers in the Nordic region and 60,000 worldwide.

Skanska said that it expected order bookings in the Nordics to drop 15 per cent in 2009 mainly due to a sharp decline in residential construction. It said it expected a decline in other geographic areas as well.

``It's a combination of the financial crisis and that it's difficult for people to take loans, and of course also the general economic decline,'' company spokesman Peter Gimbe told broadcaster Swedish Radio.

He called for government intervention to spur the housing market, ``otherwise we will have a high unemployment among construction workers.''

In a statement, Skanska Chief Executive Johan Karlstrom said the job cuts were needed ``to adapt our organization and our costs to a lower business volume in the Nordic construction markets.''