Siemens plans to cut 16,750 jobs

Siemens has been blighted by a falling share price and bribery claims

Siemens plans to cut 16,750 jobs worldwide as the German conglomerate streamlines its operations to weather the economic downturn.

The company employs around 400,000 staff worldwide. The cuts amount to about 4% of the workforce.

Siemens issued a profit warning in March and its shares have fallen almost 35% since the beginning of the year.

The firm plans to eliminate 5,250 jobs in Germany, where around 136,000 of its workforce is located.

The Munich-based engineering group said the cuts will include 12,600 mostly administrative jobs.

"Against the backdrop of a slowing economy, we have to become more efficient," said Peter Loescher, president and chief executive.

The job cuts are part of a scheme to reduce costs by 1.2bn euros ($1.9bn; £0.95bn) by 2010.

Siemens said it would only make forced dismissals as a last resort and would offer staff early retirement.

The company has also been grappling with an alleged corruption scandal that involved accepting bribes to win overseas contracts.