German engineering giant Siemens AG (IW 1000/34), which is increasingly feeling the effects of the economic downturn, will slash "thousands" of jobs, the financial daily Boersen Zeitung reported on Tuesday.
A company spokesman declined to comment on the information when contacted by AFP, but said that Siemens is scheduled to hold its traditional annual management conference in October.
Last month, Siemens CEO Peter Loescher said the company was drawing up a program to cut costs, boost productivity and efficiency.
While the program would not be implemented primarily by reducing the headcount, job cuts could not be ruled out completely, Loescher said at the time.
At the end of July, Siemens warned that it would be harder to achieve its annual profit targets, as the gloomy global economic mood weighs on orders, especially in the field of renewable energy.
It was the second time Siemens has been forced to revise down its targets this year.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
