Siemens to cut 16,750 jobs

Industrial conglomerate Siemens said Tuesday that it would cut 16,750 jobs, or 4.2% of its global workforce, to streamline operations and slice nearly $2 billion in costs in the face of a slowing economy.

The Munich, Germany-based maker of products as varied as light bulbs, medical equipment, high-speed trains and power turbines said the cuts would include 12,600 administrative jobs as well as 4,150 additional positions involving restructuring projects at its various units. The company has a worldwide workforce of approximately 400,000.

Siemens said it would consolidate its businesses from the current 1,800 separate legal entities to fewer than 1,000 and take its 70 regional companies and transform them into 20 regional clusters.

Siemens said the cuts were being made in an effort to reduce total costs by $1.8 billion by 2010.

“The speed at which business is changing worldwide has increased considerably, and we’re orienting Siemens accordingly,” Chief Executive Peter Loescher said.