Siemens to cut 2,500 jobs worldwide

German engineering giant Siemens AG yesterday said that it plans to cut 2,500 jobs worldwide in order to improve competitiveness.

A total of about 2,500 jobs worldwide, of which 2,000 are in Germany, primarily in Bavaria, will be affected by the realignment of Siemens oil and gas, metals and mining sectors.

"Plunging demand in raw materials markets has led to a significant intensification of competition, particularly in Asia. To guarantee our competitiveness, we've got to adapt to these conditions," said Juergen Brandes, CEO of Siemens' process industries and drives division.

Siemens said that the main goal of the planned measures is to consolidate the activities and optimize the size of manufacturing locations in Europe in order to improve competitiveness in a difficult market environment.

The Munich-based company said that it is driving its transformation into a digital industrial company and setting the course for innovation and further growth.

It had earlier announced increase of investment by more than €1 billion in research and development, productivity and global sales, and in tune with this, it expects to hire at least 25,000 new employees worldwide, of which, around 3,000 of them in Germany.

Siemens has a global work force of around 348,000.