German electronics giant Siemens said yesterday it was scaling back a total 7,000 jobs from its industrial solutions and services division in a bid to cut costs by €500 million and boost the unit's profitability. Siemens said in a statement it would sell the division's non-core activities to partners so the division could focus on its core competencies.

Those partners would take over and maintain some 5,000 employees, of which 3,700 were in Germany.

Mr Michael O'Connor, marketing manager at Siemens Ireland, said the announcement would not have any impact in the Republic. Just 10 of the nearly 1,000 staff employed here work in the industrial solutions and services division. A further 2,000 jobs would be eliminated and "socially responsible arrangements" found for the employees affected, Siemens said in a statement.

Of these, around 1,300 jobs would be cut in Germany. The entire Siemens group already shed some 16,000 jobs last year.