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Not an auspicious start to that part of "the next bubble"...:p
Siemens to cut 16,750 jobs
Tue Jul 8, 2008 1:15pm EDT
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG plans to slash almost 17,000 jobs worldwide to speed up cost savings and boost margins as it prepares for a global economic downturn.
Chief Executive Peter Loescher, who has extensively restructured Europe's biggest engineering group since taking charge a year ago, said Siemens needed to be faster, more efficient and have a leaner administration if it hoped to keep up with rivals.
"This takes on special urgency when one considers the economic downturn," he said...
...Engineering trade union IG Metall condemned the plans and did not rule out taking measures in protest.
"Siemens is looking good economically, the order books are full ... That makes the planned job cuts neither comprehensible nor acceptable, and they are excessive in extent," said Werner Neugebauer, head of IG Metall in Siemens home state of Bavaria...
...Siemens shares have fallen almost 35 percent so far this year. By comparison, U.S. rival General Electric has lost 27.4 percent and Dutch competitor Philips has lost 28.8 percent, according to Reuters data...
...Loescher has promised to slim down the lumbering giant, which makes a wide range of products from light bulbs and high-speed trains to medical equipment and turbines, so it can catch up with more profitable rivals and improve its technology.
So far, he has regrouped the company's units into three main divisions aligned with global growth trends: infrastructure and industry, energy, and medical technology...
More...
Tue Jul 8, 2008 1:15pm EDT
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG plans to slash almost 17,000 jobs worldwide to speed up cost savings and boost margins as it prepares for a global economic downturn.
Chief Executive Peter Loescher, who has extensively restructured Europe's biggest engineering group since taking charge a year ago, said Siemens needed to be faster, more efficient and have a leaner administration if it hoped to keep up with rivals.
"This takes on special urgency when one considers the economic downturn," he said...
...Engineering trade union IG Metall condemned the plans and did not rule out taking measures in protest.
"Siemens is looking good economically, the order books are full ... That makes the planned job cuts neither comprehensible nor acceptable, and they are excessive in extent," said Werner Neugebauer, head of IG Metall in Siemens home state of Bavaria...
...Siemens shares have fallen almost 35 percent so far this year. By comparison, U.S. rival General Electric has lost 27.4 percent and Dutch competitor Philips has lost 28.8 percent, according to Reuters data...
...Loescher has promised to slim down the lumbering giant, which makes a wide range of products from light bulbs and high-speed trains to medical equipment and turbines, so it can catch up with more profitable rivals and improve its technology.
So far, he has regrouped the company's units into three main divisions aligned with global growth trends: infrastructure and industry, energy, and medical technology...
More...
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