BERLIN: Industrial conglomerate Siemens on Thursday announced thousands of job cuts worldwide, most of them in its fossil fuels division, with unions and politicians in its home country Germany particularly outspoken against the plans. A total of 6,900 workers are set to lose their jobs, around half of them in Germany, where Siemens also plans to close sites in the country’s economically weaker east. Some 1,100 jobs are set to go in the rest of Europe, while the US will see 1,800 layoffs. German employee representatives have vowed to resist job cuts, as they would follow on the heels of flourishing annual results for the sprawling group. Battling the same headwinds, Siemens’ US competitor General Electric on Monday announced a restructuring of its own, with thousands of job cuts around the globe as it narrows its focus to aeronautics, health and energy.--AFP

Source: New Strait Times November 16, 2017 15:45 UTC