*

Layoffs represent some 15% of company's total office staff

*

Group announced plans last month to slash costs by $1.9

billion

*

Volvo Cars more exposed than many European peers to U.S.

tariffs

(Updates layoff plan, adds background, share price in

paragraphs 2-3, 9)

By Marie Mannes and Anna Ringstrom

STOCKHOLM, May 26 (Reuters) - Sweden's Volvo Cars

will cut 3,000 mostly white-collar jobs as part of

a restructuring announced last month as it grapples with high

costs, a slowdown in electric vehicle demand and trade

uncertainty, it said on Monday.

The layoffs represent around 15% of the company's office

staff, with close to three-quarters of job losses expected to

occur in Sweden and the rest in the company's global operation,

Volvo Cars said in a statement.

With most of its production based in Europe and China, Volvo

Cars is more exposed to new U.S. tariffs than many of its

European rivals, and has said it could become impossible to

export its most affordable cars to the United States.

The group, which is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding

, on April 29 unveiled a programme to slash costs by

18 billion Swedish crowns ($1.9 billion) and hit the brakes on

investments, warning that redundancies were inevitable.

In the first quarter, the auto maker had 43,500 full-time

employees and 3,000 staffing agency personnel, according to its

earnings report. White-collar staff make up more than 40% of its

workforce.

"The automotive industry is in the middle of a challenging

period. To address this, we must improve our cash flow

generation and structurally lower our costs," CEO Hakan

Samuelsson said.

The group withdrew its financial guidance as it announced

its cost cuts last month, pointing to unpredictable markets amid

weaker consumer confidence and trade tariffs causing turmoil in

the global auto industry.

On Friday U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a

50% tariff on imports from the European Union from June 1, but

on Monday he backed away from that date, restoring a July 9

deadline to allow for talks between Washington and Brussels.

Volvo Cars' shares were up 3.7% at 1145 GMT on Monday to

18.20 crowns, with most of the rise coming before the layoff

announcement. They are still down 24% year-to-date.

($1 = 9.4829 Swedish crowns)