Siemens Gamesa to cut 2,900 jobs as part of its turnaround

MADRID (Reuters) – Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa plans to cut 2,900 jobs, mostly in Europe, as part of a plan to return to profitability, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Two sources had told Reuters in August that the world’s largest producer of offshore turbines was considering cutting around 2,500 jobs, or about 9% of its overall payroll, in an attempt to end the losses that had prompted its main shareholders, Germany’s Siemens Energy to launch a takeover.

Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt had Reuters on Tuesday the company aimed to fix major issues with its flagship onshore wind turbine model over the next three months, though he warned 10 to 15 related loss-making projects would stay a drag until 2024.

“This is exactly what we need to turn our business around and return it to profitability,” Eickholt told employees in a memo seen by Reuters.

Siemens Gamesa has done an organisational review to identify synergies across several functions, and to adjust the manufacturing footprint and capacity to match market demands, the company said.

“Around 2,900 positions will be impacted globally, particularly in Siemens Gamesa’s major European countries: Denmark (800), Germany (300), Spain (475) and the United Kingdom (50),” it said in its statement on Thursday. Further job cuts are planned in other countries, it added.

Siemens Gamesa’s woes prompted parent Siemens Energy to launch a bid in May for the roughly one-third stake in the turbine group it does not already own and take it private to nurse it back to health.

The deal awaits final approval from the market regulator in Madrid, where Siemens Gamesa was listed in 2017.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by Inti Landauro and Mark Potter)