About 400 Triangle-area workers are going to be out of a job -- or out of state -- by this time next year.

Sony Ericsson announced Wednesday it's closing its RTP headquarters and moving to Atlanta.

Worldwide, Sony Ericsson is hoping to cut 2,000 jobs -- more than 20 percent of its work force.

The restructuring will affect at least six facilities, including the site in RTP, along with sites in Miami, Seattle, San Diego, Sweden and India.

"I think that it was obviously a tough message for everyone," Karen Morris, Sony Ericsson's vice president of marketing for North America, said.

The announcement wasn't exactly unexpected, though, either.

"In April of 2009 we announced our business transformation project. It's really to reduce our costs worldwide," Morris said.

Sony Ericsson officials say they're not sure yet how many people will lose their jobs or how many will be offered new positions elsewhere, but they hope to have the entire move finished by the third quarter of 2010.

The loss of a major corporate headquarters is a big change for the make-up of the research triangle.

"This is hard; it's hard for North Carolina, it's hard for me as governor," Governor Bev Perdue said. "It's much harder for those folks that are going to get those pink slips than it is for any of us put together."

Part of the reason for the relocation is the chance to be closer to AT&T, Sony Ericsson's single biggest client in the US. Corporate officials say they're combining the South American headquarters with the RTP location to make a bigger hub in Atlanta for Sony Ericsson world-wide.

Morris says the company will start talking with employees one-on-one about their futures soon.

Sony Ericsson cut more than half the jobs here at the RTP headquarters just last fall.

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