Siemens axes 300 UK staff at tech services arm

Siemens is slashing 300 jobs at its IT services operation in the UK.

The company told staff in an internal memo, seen by The Register, that it planned to cut loose 100 ops division roles, 160 project management and consultancy jobs, and 40 finance and head office staff.

“It is anticipated that the majority of the reductions will relate to roles based in Frimley, London, Bracknell and Maidenhead,” said the firm yesterday.

Siemens told staff it would rejig the UK arm of the company to take on a global rather than local approach to punting its goods in what’s becoming an increasingly squeezed market.

The cuts represent around a quarter of the professional services staff, one insider said.

“'Siemens IT Solutions and Services is planning a reduction of up to 300 roles in its UK workforce following a strategic review," a company spokeswoman told El Reg.

"The resulting organisation restructuring will ensure closer cooperation with other Siemens entities throughout North West Europe and will drive a greater emphasis on its global portfolio and skill set.”

“Siemens is in consultation with employees and is expecting to achieve the reductions, mainly in the South East of England, through a mixture of voluntary and compulsory redundancies. We are keeping employees fully informed of the ongoing situation and committed to supporting them through this difficult period,” it said.

The parent company confirmed in June 2008 that it would lay off 17,000 employees from its 400,000 workforce, including 6,450 jobs in Germany alone, as part of an effort to save €1.2bn.

Despite the latest round of job cuts, one Siemens exec sees reasons to be cheerful.

Siemen's UK industry managing director Juergen Maier, who is also an adviser to biz secretary Lord Mandelson, told Reuters that Blighty was set for a "mini-renaissance" in the manufacturing industry.

"Manufacturing as a share of gross domestic product will fall from 13 per cent to 12 per cent but will be up to 15-16 per cent in a decade," he opined. ®