Cuba to lay off state workers

Cuba has announced radical plans to lay off huge numbers of state employees, to help revive the communist country's struggling economy.



The Cuban labour federation says more than a million workers will lose their jobs, half of them by March next year.



The federation says those laid off will be encouraged to become self-employed or join new private enterprises, on which some of the current restrictions will be eased.



Analysts have described the move as the biggest private sector shift since the 1959 revolution.



Cuba's communist government currently controls almost all aspects of the country's economy and employs about 85 per cent of the official workforce, which is put at 5.1 million people.



As many as one-in-five of all workers could lose their jobs.