Michelin to cut up to 3,500 jobs by 2011

PARIS, June 25 (Reuters) - Michelin (MICP.PA) could cut as many as 3,500 jobs in France by 2011, the French tyre group said on Thursday.

"When you add up the 700 job cuts already announced when we closed our plant in Toul, the 1,093 job cuts of last week and an estimate of our workforce needs by 2011, which we see down 650 to 1,700 jobs due to productivity gains, we reach that figure of 2,400 to 3,500 jobs," a spokeswoman for Michelin said.

She added that this estimate was communicated to trade unions in a workers meeting on Wednesday.

Le Figaro newspaper reported earlier on Thursday that unions were expecting up to 3,500 job cuts at the company. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Hans Peters)