IS SIEMENS STILL GERMAN?

摘要

Two years ago employees at Siemens' power generator factory in the east German city of Erfurt made Siemens CEO Hein-rich von Pierer an honorary member of their workers' council. The membership was a gesture of gratitude for von Pierer's efforts to keep open the plant, a relic of the communist era that Siemens acquired in 1991. But in a meeting with Erfurt workers on Apr. 23, von Pierer delivered a sober message: Only those employees who are innovative and flexible can be sure of their jobs. These days Siemens employs so many people abroad it's reasonable to ask whether it's still a German company. Von Pierer didn't address that question in his Erfurt speech. But if s what Siemens' unions increasingly want to know. On one level, the question seems absurd. Siemens is Germany's fourth-largest private employer, with a payroll of 167,000. Top management is predominantly German, and the focus on engineering is a hallmark of German excellence. True, von Pierer cut Siemens' head count in Germany by 51,000 in the past decade, but many of the jobs stayed in the country. Siemens reduced costs by spinning off units like Infineon Technologies, which kept most of their German workers.