Finnish Hardwood Firm Cutting Workforce

Kuopio, Finland, Aug. 26, 2008--Finnish flooring maker Karelia-Upofloor said it would cut up to 190 jobs.

The company said in a statement that the profitability of its hardwood flooring business had weakened on the back of rising raw material and labor costs and that export demand had fallen because of slowdowns on the North American and western European construction markets.

Karelia-Upfloor has seven factories in Finland and one each in Romania and Russia, employing about 1,500 people in total.