Siemens Gamesa will cut 2,900 jobs in the world, of which 475 will affect Spain

MADRID, 29 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Siemens Gamesa will cut a total of 2,900 jobs worldwide, of which a total of 475 of them will affect Spain, within the framework of its 'Mistral' strategic program to achieve sustainable growth, the company reported.

In this way, the cut in Spain will affect just over 9% of the total workforce that the group that emerged from the merger of Gamesa with the Siemens wind power division has in the country, which amounts to a total of 5,097, according to data from the company.

For its part, the 2,900 jobs that will be affected globally are just over 10% of the workforce of more than 27,380 employees that Siemens Gamesa has in the world.

This adjustment plan will mainly affect Europe, where, in addition to Spain, there will be workforce cuts in Denmark (800), Germany (300), Spain (475) and the United Kingdom (50).

Adjustments will also occur in other geographic areas; the company said, adding that the details of the affected countries will be defined in negotiations with works councils.

The CEO of Siemens Gamesa, Jochen Eickholt, stated that "it is never easy to make a decision of this type, but now is the time to carry out the necessary measures to turn the company around and ensure its sustainable future."

"We need to build a stronger and more competitive Siemens Gamesa to consolidate our position as a key player in the green energy transition," he said.

In a statement, the group indicated that this workforce adjustment measure represents a new step in the implementation of its new operating model, "designed to maximize the company's potential and allow long-term profitable growth through a simpler structure and effective."

With the launch of the Mistral program in May, a reorganization process was launched, both to identify synergies in different functions and to adjust production capacity to market demands.

At the same time, and in order to meet the company's growth projections, Siemens Gamesa indicated that it has continued to work to strengthen growth areas in strategic markets, "taking advantage of its leadership position in the offshore market, as well as enough to grow the value chain and focus the business on projects".

WILL PRIORITIZE VOLUNTARY DEPARTURES AND RELOCATION

The company stated that it will "collaborate closely" with the workers' representatives to minimize the impact of this adjustment, prioritizing voluntary departures and relocations.

The negotiation period will begin at the beginning of this month of October. The new operating model and the new organizational structure will enter into force on January 1, 2023. The changes in the workforce will be executed depending on the outcome of the negotiations with the works councils, no later than before the 2025 financial year. departures will occur in the next two fiscal years, 2023 and 2024.

Since the culmination of the closure of the merger of Gamesa and the Siemens wind energy division in 2017, the group has carried out various adjustments in its workforce that have also affected Spain. The last of them, at the beginning of 2021, meant the closure of the Somozas (A Coruña) and Cuenca plants.

IMPACTS THAT HAVE LEADED TO HISTORICAL LOSSES.

In recent years, the group has been impacted by market volatility and delays in the supply chain, as well as by internal challenges that have mainly affected the onshore segment (onshore wind).

Last August, the company shot up its losses in the first nine months of its fiscal year to 1,226 million euros, which is more than triple the 'red numbers' of 368 million euros that it had registered a year ago.

In this way, Siemens Gamesa, over which its main shareholders Siemens Energy has announced a takeover bid for 32.9% of the capital that it does not own to exclude it from the Stock Exchange, aggravated the situation that it has been going through since 2020, when in the middle of the pandemic it entered a cycle of 'red numbers'. In that 2020, the company had annual record losses of 918 million euros and in 2021 the 'red numbers' were 627 million.

Faced with this situation, and after the changeover a few months ago at the head of the company with Jochen Eickholt as CEO, the wind turbine manufacturer, which has chained three 'profit warnings', launched its new strategic program 'Mistral', with the objective of reviewing its operating model to achieve a simpler and more agile organization that improves its efficiency and effectiveness.