SIEMENS, the German industrial conglomerate, has become the latest casualty of the credit crunch, unveiling plans to axe about 4 per cent of its global workforce.
The company, which has about 3,000 staff in Scotland out of a UK workforce of 20,000, said it could not rule out cuts at its UK operations.
Siemens' Scottish employees are mainly based in the Central Belt and Aberdeen, in a range of subsidiaries,
from Siemens Building to Siemens Medical Solutions.
The group is to cut 16,750 jobs worldwide, to help it reach a savings target of 1.2 billion (£953 million).
Siemens, Europe's biggest engineering group, which is involved in a range of businesses from transport to electrical appliances, said it wanted to boost profit margins.
Chief executive Peter Loescher, who has restructured Siemens since taking charge a year ago, said the group needed to become faster and more efficient.
"This takes on special urgency when one considers the economic downturn," he said.
Siemens is struggling to put an end to a worldwide investigation into corruption and bribery, and is struggling to regain investor confidence after a profit warning in March that sent its shares tumbling.
Shares closed yesterday at 69.67 – down 1.6 per cent or 1.14. The share price has fallen almost 35 per cent this year.
Loescher has regrouped the company's units into three main divisions: infrastructure and industry, energy, and medical technology. He has also scaled down the management board from 11 to eight.
The firm said it was in consultation with workers and unions over the cuts.
The full article contains 275 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
