Osram has announced plans to cut 4,700 jobs after it is spun off from Siemens.
The cuts, which will amount to 12 per cent of the company's workforce, are planned to take effect by 2014 to achieve cumulative gross savings of 1 billion euros by 2015. The company has already cut 1,900 jobs worldwide over the course of the last year.
Osram said the reduction in the workforce will mostly be achieved through factory sales and that most of the layoffs will take place outside Germany, where 400 jobs are due to be cut. The measures in Germany and internationally are aimed at plants with products at the end of their product life cycle or the closure of smaller plants with lower sales. At the same time, Osram said it is aiming to increase staff in future-oriented business fields and restore profitability with efficient structures in production, research and development and sales.
Parent company Siemens had initially planned to float Osram in an IPO, but earlier this year announced that it would spin the company off to existing shareholders instead, citing "volatile" market conditions. The German industrial group plans to give 80.5 per cent of Osram to its shareholders, probably in spring. Reuters quoted sources saying the lighting company will publish the prospectus for its listing on 7 December, ahead of a vote at the Siemens annual general meeting on 23 January.
Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of Osram said: "We are consequently treading the path of corporate reorganisation and in doing so are entering the digital lighting age. Compared to traditional products, the depth of our added value in LED-based products will be significantly reduced. Consequently, the personnel increase in the future fields will only partially compensate for the change in the traditional business."