SA unclear on Siemens retrenchments

By Christelle du Toit for Siemens
Johannesburg, 10 Jul 2008

Neither Siemens SA nor Siemens internationally have been able to clarify whether SA will be affected by the company's global job cuts.

This week, Siemens announced it would retrench 12 600 workers across the globe, primarily in administrative areas.

An additional 4 150 jobs are to be affected by its restructuring project, bringing the total number of jobs lost to 16 750.

"Against the backdrop of a slowing economy, we have to become more efficient," says Siemens president and CEO Peter L"oscher.

Negotiations are under way with German worker representatives, as the biggest chunk of the job losses - 5 250 - will be in that country, which serves as Siemens's base.

According to both Siemens SA spokesman Greg Gibbons and Siemens Germany spokesman Monica Bruecklmeier, it is too soon to break down the job losses in terms of countries other than Germany.

In addition to job cuts, Siemens will also reduce its spend on IT to achieve a 1.2 billion-euro cost reduction by 2010. It will also make less use of consultants and "streamline" management - reducing management numbers.

The news of the jobs losses comes amid fears of a global recession. This week, Moody's Investors Service warned SA could also be heading for a recession before the end of the year. However, the treasury responded by saying such statements are premature and alarmist.