Siemens AG has revealed details about its ongoing plans to make ‘workforce adjustments’ as part of its Siemens 2014 initiative, a previously instituted program meant to reduce company costs by over $8 billion.
A company spokesperson tells NAW that Siemens is in the process of cutting approximately 15,000 jobs globally across its many businesses by the end of 2014. About half of the worldwide reductions have been or will be implemented this year.
More than 5,000 of the job cuts are slated to be made in Germany, including about 1,400 in the region's energy division. However, the spokesperson declined to specify if or how many employees in the company's wind power business – in Germany or worldwide – may be affected. In addition, Siemens could not reveal information about other regions at this time.Â
"This is in line with our principle: communicate first with employees and then with the general public," the spokesperson says.
In July, Siemens named Joe Kaeser, chief financial officer of the company since 2006, to replace CEO Peter Loscher. Loscher resigned following Siemens' bleak financial results, including a projected failure to meet its planned profit margin of at least 12% by fiscal year 2014. In the third quarter of this year, Siemens' overall profits dropped 31% year-over-year, and its wind division's profits fell from $89 million to about $30 million over the same time frame.
Photo caption: A truck transports a Siemens wind turbine blade. Photo courtesy of Siemens AG.
