AUGUSTA – A worldwide reduction in the work force is expected at SCI Systems Inc., which employs 600 people in Augusta.

Jim Moylan, chief financial officer of the electronics manufacturing company, blamed a weak market for the layoffs.

“It has to do with the fact the business is pretty tough,” Moylan said from the company’s headquarters in Huntsville, Ala.

Moylan would not say when the layoffs were expected or how many people were expected to lose their jobs, either locally or nationally.

A wide range of positions is expected to be lost because this is a general issue. In March, the company laid off a quarter of its Augusta employees, reducing the head count from 800 to 600 workers.

That round marked the fifth time cuts have been announced since SCI took over the former Digital Equipment Corp. plant in 1995.

SCI manufactures, markets and distributes electronic products for the aerospace, defense, medical and entertainment industries. The company has approximately 35,000 employees.

The Augusta branch of SCI is the company’s optic center. It specializes in high-tech telephone and transmission supplies.

In July, Sanmina Corp. announced a possible merger with SCI, its bigger and older rival.

Moylan said the cuts at SCI were not related to the merger with the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

The merger would create a company with more than $14 billion in revenue and approximately 100 manufacturing facilities in more than 20 countries.