By Jack Keough
Siemens AG, the German industrial conglomerate, said over the weekend that it intends on cutting 15,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce by the end of 2014. The job cuts are part of Siemens’ restructuring plan announced earlier this year that will result in more than $8 billion in cost reductions.
This is the first time that Siemens had identified specifics of its restructuring program and the number of jobs that will be eliminated.
About half of the targeted positions have already been eliminated in the past year through attrition and severance, the company said.
Nearly 5,000 of the job cuts will come from the company’s German operations, with roughly 2,000 coming from its industrial division, 1,400 each from the energy infrastructure, and cities units.
Siemens is Germany’s second largest company by market value, according to the Reuters news agency. In all, the German industrial giant has more than 370,000 workers worldwide.
This will be a huge challenge for new Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser who took the top spot in August from Peter Loescher who lost his post after failing to meet profitability goals.
Earlier this year, Siemens spun off its Osram Licht AG Lighting Unit.
“The company’s profits have been hit by a number of mishaps, including delays in completing wind-farm projects in the North Sea and delivering high-speed trains to the German railway. The company jettisoned its loss-making solar-power business and plans to sell other units such as airport luggage systems, water technologies, and mail automation,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Jack Keough was the editor of Industrial Distribution magazine for more than 26 years. He often speaks at many industry events and seminars. He can be reached at john.keough@comcast.net or keoughbiz@gmail.com
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