Amid collapsing worldwide demand for its products, the steelgiant, Corus annouced it will cut 3,500 jobs as it takes the global economic crisis by the horns.

Out of the 3,500 jobs, 2,500 are to be cut in the UK and the remaining 1,000 throughout Europe, equal to around 8 per cent of the company’s workforce.

Corus is holding emergency talks with worker representatives as well as the UK government regarding some sort of financial support.

According to a press release on the Corus website, the company’s CEO Philippe Varin said:

揟he structural changes we are proposing today have been carefully considered. They are essential for the future of the business.� The company will keep its focus on priority areas such as training, research and product development, which, together with today抯 initiative, will ensure Corus is in the best possible shape to compete strongly in the future.�

Corus is Europe’s second largest steel producer with annual revenues of more than �12 billion and crude steel production of about 20 million tonnes.� With main steelmaking operations primarily in the UK and the Netherlands, Corus supplies steel and related services to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering and other markets worldwide.� Corus is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, one of the world抯 top ten steel producers.� Following the acquisition of Corus in 2007, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 82,700 employees across four continents.