Nokia's Ollila sees recession lasting 2-3 years

Nokia on Wednesday said it would cut production at its Salo plant in Finland as demand for cell phones has dropped, and close a research site in the Finnish town of Jyvaskyla. It said 410 jobs in the company would go.

Asked by Finnish broadcaster YLE if Nokia planned additional temporary or permanent layoffs, especially in Finland, Ollila said: "Now we have to see ... and if the situation gets clearly worse, it could very well be that we take more actions."

"It's a very difficult situation, this coming recession is far more difficult than how it looked a few months ago," Ollila added.

When asked how long he thought the recession would last, Ollila said: "Two to three years."

Cell-phone sales are set to drop this year, hit by consumers' reluctance to spend on new gadgets in the midst of the economic recession and large inventories built up by phone sellers at the end of last year.

(Reporting by Brett Young, editing by Maureen Bavdek)