Siemens to snip jobs in its divisions

Siemens is planning to reduce headcount in some divisions to offset the impact of global economic crisis but will not cut jobs company-wide, its chief executive told a German newspaper.

“We have businesses whose new orders have dropped by up to 70 per cent. We cannot just twiddle our thumbs and watch that,” Peter Loescher told weekly Welt am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday.
The German industrial conglomerate had already announced plans last year to cut 17,000 jobs in administrative and sales functions around the world.

Loescher also said he did not expect to see a quick global economic recovery, though the downturn had already bottomed out. “It will take a long time until we see capacity expansion and the growth rates of boom years 2007 and 2008.”