Siemens to axe 17,200 staff by 2010

Singapore - Management from Siemens Singapore will head to Germany to discuss restructuring plans with the Workers Council in early July, according to a spokesperson from Siemens.

This follows the company's recent announcement that it would sack 17,200 staff worldwide by 2010.

The company posted a second-quarter profit of US$648.82 million (S$883.5 m) in the January to March period this year, but it is 67% lower compared to last year's figures.

German local paper Seuddeutsche Zeitung reported that 6,400 jobs in Germany and 12,500 administrative positions worldwide will be axed including upper and mid-level managers, saving the company 1.2 billion euros (S$2.58b).

However, Michael Busse, an analyst at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg said, "Even with job cuts of that amount, it will be difficult to reach their goals because of big wage increases, not just in Germany but also in China and India and other countries."