Siemens Business Services wants to fire 1,600 workers

Siemens Business Services (SBS), the corporate IT reseller arm of engineering giant Siemens AG, wants to fire 1,600 workers in its German heartland.

This is a statement of intent, or desire, as the company has to square the proposal with its workers council.

The proposed job cuts represent 11 per cent of SBS's current German workforce of 15,000. The company has strong representation overseas - and surely the job axe will also wield abroad. For instance it employs more than 5,000 people in the UK and generates nearly £400m in annual revenues.

In the UK, SBS is particularly strong in the networking equipment reseller market, competing against the likes of Logical and DiData. But as we all know, this sector is torched.

Siemens intends to merge SBS with its IT division, a move announced last year. ®