Frankfurt, May 7 (IANS) Industrial giant Siemens AG announced on Thursday that it will cut an additional 4,500 jobs after plans to eliminate 7,800 jobs worldwide were announced in early February.
The layoffs reflect the German company’s difficulties in its energy and gas division, made worse by changes in the electricity generation market in terms of regulation, a sharp drop in prices, and fierce competition, Efe news agency reported.
Siemens confirmed that roughly 5,100 jobs in Germany would be cut in total, including those announced earlier in the year.
The cuts announced in February aimed at saving the company one billion euros ($1.13 billion) by 2016 for investment in growth, productivity and innovation initiatives.
CEO Joe Kaeser said that once the cuts have been made, the company’s restructuring process would be finished, while Siemens was looking to create an additional 11,000 jobs, of which 1,500 would be in Germany.