Major job cuts at Siemens could hit Charlotte workers

The German manufacturer Siemens said Thursday it will be cutting about 6,900 jobs worldwide, including 1,800 in the U.S., over the next several years to reduce costs.

The job cuts could hit the Siemens plant on Westinghouse Boulevard in Charlotte, where the company employs about 1,650 people to make steam turbines and electrical generators for energy firms.

Siemens would not give details about plans for individual plants. It expected to announce more details early next year.

The U.S. layoffs will affect production facilities and administrative functions, the company said.

In a memo distributed to employees Thursday morning, Siemens said the cuts are in response to a rapidly changing power generation industry, and are intended to increase capacity at production facilities, improve efficiency and combine resources.

The layoffs follow “a three-year effort to right-size the business for this changing marketplace,” the company said in the memo.

“The cuts are necessary to ensure that our expertise in power-plant technology, generators and large electrical motors stays competitive over the long term. That’s the goal behind the measures we’re taking,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Janina Kugel.

In October, Siemens laid off “a small number” of workers in Charlotte because of a downturn in the global energy market, which includes price pressures and cost structures that are no longer considered competitive, the company said.

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Major job cuts at Siemens could hit Charlotte workers."