FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German engineering conglomerate Siemens is in preliminary discussions about thousands of job cuts as it responds to a weaker economy, particularly in Europe, a German newspaper reported.
Internal talks about job cuts are at an early stage and decisions could be made in October or November, daily Boersen-Zeitung said, without specifying its sources.
SIEMENS (SIE.XE) which has more than 400,000 staff, in July reported a big drop in new orders as customers put off investments due to Europe's crisis, saying full-year goals would be hard to meet.
CEO Peter Loescher said at the time Siemens would have to cut costs and become leaner.
Boersen-Zeitung said the planned cutbacks marked an about-turn as Siemens had over the past 15 months increased headcount by 23,000 globally - including 6,000 in Germany,
Siemens was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by David Cowell)
