NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Tyco Electronics Ltd., the world's biggest maker of electronic connectors, said it told "a number" of workers in North America today that their jobs would be cut as part of an ongoing effort to slash 20 percent of the company's global workforce.

Most of the reductions announced today are effective immediately, spokesman Mike Ratcliff said in a phone interview. He declined to disclose how many positions are being eliminated or where they will take place. The reductions include full-time staff along with temporary and contract workers, he said.

"Given the current economic situation and the significantly reduced demand for our products, the company is working toward the elimination of approximately 20,000 positions worldwide by the end of our fiscal year," Ratcliff said in a phone interview. The fiscal year ends September 30. The reductions include attrition.

The company, based in Bermuda and run from Berwyn, Pennsylvania, had about 96,000 employees worldwide at the end of the last fiscal year, Ratcliff said. Today's cuts include both managerial and labour positions.

Tyco Electronics has "significant" operations in about 10 states, including major centres in Pennsylvania and North Carolina as well as facilities in California, Massachusetts and South Carolina, Ratcliff said.

"Most of the sites in most of the locations had some impact from today's announcement," Ratcliff said.