Marconi is expected to announce the loss of 3,000 jobs , or six per cent of its workforce, as part of a plan to reduce costs forced upon it by a slowdown in sales in the networking market.

About 1,200 people are set lose their jobs in the UK, according to a reports in several Sunday papers. The FT has said letters about the job cuts were sent out on Friday. Many of Marconi's 55,000 staff are based in the UK.

Marconi's full-year results up to the end of March are thought to be in line with estimates of £710m, but there is still pressure on the firm to reassure investors in light of the problems faced by the rest of the industry.

The telecommunications equipment manufacturing sector has been hit by a sudden falloff in sales that has resulted in widespread job cuts at firms throughout the networking sector including Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and Lucent. ®