Siemens ditches partial work scheme
German industrial group Siemens said Friday that it has resumed full-time work schedules at German sites owing to a pick-up in demand, following the lead of the auto industry.
In June of last year, 19,000 Siemens workers were affected by a partial work scheme, around 15 percent of the group's workforce in Germany.
This month, the state-subsidized programme designed to keep staff in their jobs through downturns concerned only around 600 people.
In the third quarter of its year to September 2010, Siemens emerged from the global economic crisis with a 22 percent increase in orders worth almost €21 billion ($27 billion).
German automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen have already said they would stop using the programme as demand rebounded this year.
In May, the world's biggest chemical company, BASF, weaned itself off the scheme as well.
By the end of the year, around 100,000 workers should still be enrolled in the programme, compared with a peak of 1.4 million at the worst point of the economic crisis, according to the German federation of chambers of commerce and business DIHK.
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In June of last year, 19,000 Siemens workers were affected by a partial work scheme, around 15 percent of the group's workforce in Germany.
This month, the state-subsidized programme designed to keep staff in their jobs through downturns concerned only around 600 people.
In the third quarter of its year to September 2010, Siemens emerged from the global economic crisis with a 22 percent increase in orders worth almost €21 billion ($27 billion).
German automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen have already said they would stop using the programme as demand rebounded this year.
In May, the world's biggest chemical company, BASF, weaned itself off the scheme as well.
By the end of the year, around 100,000 workers should still be enrolled in the programme, compared with a peak of 1.4 million at the worst point of the economic crisis, according to the German federation of chambers of commerce and business DIHK.
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