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Siemens to cut 15,000 jobs worldwide

German engineering and technology giant Siemens said on Sunday it planned to slash 15,000 positions worldwide by late next year as part of a cost-cutting drive, including 5,000 in its home country.

Published: 30 September 2013 08:29 CEST
Siemens to cut 15,000 jobs worldwide
Photo: DPA

The company is aiming for voluntary redundancies and to redeploy some staff within the vast conglomerate, which makes products from gas turbines to rail equipment to health care goods.

“The ongoing and planned workforce adjustments in the context of Siemens 2014 are about 15,000 positions worldwide, of which about 5,000 are in Germany,” the Munich-based company said in a statement.

The ongoing “Siemens 2014” drive in total aims to save more than €six billion.

The company in July appointed Joe Kaeser as the new chief executive, replacing ousted Peter Löscher, days after Siemens had announced its second profit warning in two months.

When Kaeser took over at the helm of Siemens, he stressed that the company was “certainly not in crisis, nor is it in need of major restructuring”.

“However we’ve been too preoccupied with ourselves lately and have lost some of our profit momentum vis-a-vis our competitors,” he said in late July, vowing to get Siemens “back on an even keel.”

Of the job cuts in Germany, 2,000 positions will be slashed in the company’s industry division, 1,400 in energy, 1,400 in infrastructure and cities and 200 in the corporate division, the spokesman said.

The steps had been “discussed with all those concerned”, with about half the redundancies to take effect in 2013 and the rest by the end of 2014, he said.

Siemens said the cost-cutting plans were not new, just the number of layoffs which resulted from them, and that the job losses had been discussed with workers’ representatives.

“We are sticking to the rule: first we speak with the employees, then we go public,” the company said in its statement.

Earlier on Sunday, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper had quoted analysts as expecting about 10,000 job cuts next year.

Siemens has about 370,000 employees worldwide, including 119,000 in Germany.

During the leadership change at Siemens, even Chancellor Angela Merkel, via her spokesman, had commented, saying she viewed the Siemens group as a “flagship” of the German economy and a company which needed to “return to calm waters”.

Shortly after announcing the changes, the company released its results for its fiscal third quarter, posting a 43-percent jump in net profit to €1.1 billion, mostly due to the spin-off of lighting company Osram.

Nevertheless profit from continuing operations fell 13 percent in the April to June period, to €1.0 billion, while sales dropped two percent to €19.2 billion, hit by its wind energy activities in the United States.

Löscher, who came from the US pharmaceutical company Merck to take over the reins of Siemens in 2007, had faced criticism for some time amid disappointing results, a company strategy deemed vague and missed deadlines.

READ MORE: Troubled Siemens ditches chief

AFP/jcw

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Published: 7 February 2024 10:54 CET
Updated: 10 February 2024 08:20 CET
Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions. 

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local. 

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with. 

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