Staff at the UK headquarters of a mobile phone giant were today waiting to hear whether they would be hit by major job losses.

Swedish telecoms manufacturer Ericsson said it was unlikely to close its headquarters at Burgess Hill, which employs more than 500 people.

But workers turning up today at the complex in Charles Avenue were staying tight-lipped about their future.

However, it is believed that only a handful of jobs will go in Sussex as Ericsson gears up to shed more than 12,000 of its 100,000 worldwide workforce, spread over 140 countries.

The job cuts come in the wake of a sharp downturn in the mobile phones market after several years of boom.

An Ericsson spokeswoman said the Burgess Hill headquarters, in Charles Avenue, was unlikely to shut but it was too early to say whether jobs there would be lost.

She said the company had begun a review of its UK operation in February, which was likely to be accelerated by today's announcement.

She said: "We are reviewing the measures following the announcement today but it is too early to say the extent of the job losses."

Burgess Hill houses sales and marketing departments, as well as software development for fixed and mobile phone networks.

Ericsson announced last month it intended to shed 1,200 jobs by closing two factories elsewhere in the UK.

The company said sales worldwide had fallen by five per cent and were unlikely to pick-up during the year.

Officials from the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union were planning to hold meetings with the company today to find out how many jobs in Britain would go.

National officer Bob Shannon said: "We have made it clear to Ericsson that they cannot keep cutting jobs in this country. It is essential that the firm holds its nerve in the face of the current problems."

Ericsson, the world's largest maker of mobile phone systems, said the latest round of redundacies was in addition to the 3,300 layoffs announced last month. The company is cutting 14 per cent of the workforce in a bid to save £1.4 billion in annual operating costs by next year.

President and Chief Executive Kurt Hellstroem: "With no signs of a short-term turnaround in the market, we are adjusting to these challenging circumstances by reducing our cost base.

"Improving cash flow will be given highest priority. This will give us a business that is smaller, more manageable and has lower risk."

Ericsson is not the only telecoms firm looking to restructure their operations. Motorola, Siemens and Marconi have also announced cuts amid fears about declining investor confidence and falling sales.

And only this week Hove-based Hosiden Besson, which manufactures handset accessories, announced it intended to make up to a third of its workforce redundant.

But E-commerce minister Patricia Hewitt is optimistic about the future for the telecoms industry and is confident Ericsson will minimise job losses in the UK.

After discussing the situation with Ericsson, she said: "Despite these very really short-term difficulties, they are pretty optimistic about the longer term prospects."