Siemens considers more job cuts

Martin Fiutak in Germany and Matthew Broersma in London ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 03 Aug 2001 16:01 BST

German IT manufacturer Siemens may cut more jobs in addition to the 10,000 cuts already made, according to a report in the Financial Times Deutschland on Thursday.

The cuts are to be particularly aimed at ICN (Information and Communication Networks), Siemens' fixed communications network arm, which could see up to 5,000 job cuts, according to the report.

Siemens chief executive Heinrich von Pierer has set a target of saving 2bn euros from the ICN unit.

The networking equipment sector has seen heavy job cuts recently from the likes of Lucent and Cisco, but ICN has been sustained so far by healthy demand from overseas. Now, however, the department's capacity is expected to be substantially reduced, with Siemens possibly outsourcing more manufacturing.

Altogether ICN, employing about 53,000 people, could see 20 percent of its staff go. The job cuts are thought likely to come from overseas; ICN operates in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and North America, among other areas.

A Siemens representative declined to comment on the plans, saying they are at an early stage.

Observers also expect additional job losses from SBS (Siemens Business Services) in addition to the 2,000 announced in July.

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