Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Siemens cutting 17K jobs worldwide to cut costs

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-08 21:01

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Tuesday it would cut 16,750 jobs, or 4.2 percent of its global work force, to streamline operations and cut nearly $2 billion in costs in the face of a slowing economy.

Related readings:  Siemens global job-cut not to affect recruitement in China  US employers cut 62,000 jobs in June amid recession fears  Starbucks to cut up to 12,000 jobs, close 600 stores  Economists predict employers will cut jobs again

The Munich-based maker of products ranging from light bulbs and medical equipment to high-speed trains and power turbines said the cuts would include 12,600 administrative jobs as well as another 4,150 positions involving restructuring projects at its various units. The company has a worldwide work force of approximately 400,000 people.

Siemens said it will consolidate its businesses from the current 1,800 separate legal entities to fewer than 1,000 and take its 70 regional companies and transform them into 20 regional clusters.

Siemens said the cuts were being made in an effort to reduce total costs by 1.2 billion euros ($1.8 billion) by 2010.

"The speed at which business is changing worldwide has increased considerably, and we're orienting Siemens accordingly," said chief executive Peter Loescher in a statement announcing the cuts, which had first been raised last month.

"Against the backdrop of a slowing economy, we have to become more efficient," he said.

Shares of Siemens were up 1.3 percent to 70.29 euros ($110.31) in Frankfurt trading after the announcement.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page