The second half of 2009 will see about 750 people lose their jobs at Konecranes, and statutory negotiations have already started at the Hyvinkää headquarters for a new round of employee cuts.

The negotiations targeting the 189 employees of Konecranes Plc and Konecranes Finance Corp could affect 10-15 employees from the IT, R&D, marketing and communications, legal, financial, HR and procurement departments.

In addition to "possible temporary and permanent layoffs", Konecranes says it is reducing the purchasing of external services and products to cut costs.

During the first half of 2009, orders for Konecranes products were 41% lower than the same period in 2008. In Konecranes' second quarter interim report, it noted a reduction of 850 employees from the end of 2008.

In 2008, Konecranes' sales totalled EUR2.103 billion (USD2.983 billion). The group has 9,700 employees at 485 locations in 43 countries. It is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.