Japan - Nikon has announced it will cut 1,000 jobs due to deteriorating business.

According to a report by The Press Association, the Japanese organisation will axe 800 non-regular employees such as temporary and contract workers from its domestic manufacturing headcount of 2,900. It also plans to cut another 200 from marketing and servicing in Japan and overseas.

Similar to other Japanese exporters who have been forced to make job cuts, Nikon has been greatly affected by the drop in demand for the country's cars and electronics. Its precision equipment business has been hit particularly hard from the falling demand of steppers, a device used to make semiconductors.

Nikon said that its efforts to restructure have not been enough to cope with the deteriorating business, and has "decided to implement drastic measures for fixed cost reduction in every business step of production, marketing and servicing".

It will also downsize the stepper production sites in Japan and reorganise servicing units in the US, Europe and Asia.