Siemens confirms offshoring plans

FRANKFURT: German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG confirmed it had firm plans to move jobs abroad from some of its units, but it declined to give specific numbers.

Union sources said in March that Siemens was considering moving more than 10,000 jobs to low-wage countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.

Siemens said in a statement that it had concrete plans to initiate moves in its telecoms unit ICN, power transmission and distribution unit PTD, and ICM Information and Communication Mobile unit.

Siemens Chief Executive Heinrich von Pierer has long complained about employment costs in Germany.

The group, one of Germany's largest employers, with 170,000 domestic staff, is creating new jobs abroad, where it currently makes 80 percent of sales and employs 60 percent of staff.

Siemens shares were up 1.2 percent at 60.78 euros by 1011 GMT, compared to a 0.9 percent rise on the blue-chip DAX.

© Reuters