Siemens chief says major restructuring on the cards

BERLIN (AFP) — The head of German engineering group Siemens has confirmed that a major restructuring is on the cards, after reports said the firm wanted to lay off 17,000 workers, according to comments published Sunday.

"At the end of last week we presented our plans to the board. Some of the details included in this obviously made it out into the open straight afterwards," chief executive Peter Loescher told the Bild newspaper.

"We have announced the target of saving 1.2 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars), mostly in administration costs, by 2010," said Loescher in comments to be published in full on Monday.

"The world economy and the oil price are adding to the pressure to act. We have to batten down the hatches at the company."

The Suddeutsche Zeitung and the Financial Times said Saturday that Siemens planned 17,200 job ...