a leading maker of surgical staples has cut 12 percent of its US work force.

US Surgical Corp., one of the world's biggest makers of surgical staples, axed 775 jobs to reduce costs after being acquired on October 1 for $3.3 billion by Tyco International Ltd.

No decisions have yet been made, but more jobs may be cut overseas a spokesman said.

Tyco, the world's biggest maker of fire-protection systems, also provides security services and makes medical products and electronic components.

"We're looking to be as efficient as we can be, and unfortunately it involves people,'' spokesman Steve Rose said.

US Surgical, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, had 6,700 employees worldwide before the latest cuts. Two-thirds of the job losses came through voluntary departures. Three-quarters of the jobs cut were in Connecticut with the rest in Puerto Rico.

Mr. Rose said: "Anywhere there were redundancies with Tyco, there were some layoffs.'' The company plans to consolidate its Connecticut operations in North Haven over the next 15 months.

US Surgical, with annual sales of about $1.4 billion, is a subsidiary of Tyco International's Exeter, New Hampshire based Tyco Healthcare Group.

US Surgical makes surgical staples and related products and instruments that it markets to hospitals around the world.