Siemens says it will not cut jobs due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic

The economic blow from the Coronavirus pandemic to global businesses, as per experts, is unprecedented in history. Numberless businesses have resorted to cost-cutting strategies in the past two months including reducing workforce and temporarily suspending operations. In its announcement on Saturday, however, Siemens (ETR:SIE) brought the good news for its workers as it highlighted that the company doesn’t plan on laying off workers amidst the ongoing health crisis.

Siemens To Extend Short-Term Working Measures In Germany

According to the Chief Executive Officer, Joe Kaeser, Siemens’ strategy to combat COVID-19 situation currently only entails an extension on its short-term working measures in Germany. In an interview with Passauer Neue Presse on Saturday, Keaser was reported quoting:

“No one at Siemens will leave because of a temporary fluctuation in activity.”

The flu-like virus has so far infected more than 122,000 people in Germany with the death toll approaching 3,000.

Siemens, however, expressed willingness for structural changes as a need of the hour.

According to the CEO, only 1,600 of Siemens’ employees are currently on short-time work. The German multinational conglomerate company employs a total of 120,000 people in Germany. Depending on how the virus situation unravels, however, Kaeser said that more of its workforce may have to be shifted to short-time work.

Siemens’ Performance In The Stock Market

At the time of writing, Siemens is exchanging hands around £72 per share in the stock market that translates to around 30% decline in 2020 so far. In contract, its performance in 2019 was reported fairly upbeat with an annual gain of just under 20%.

Siemens’ trajectory in the stock market has remained downward since the start of the year with the sharpest decline in March when Coronavirus cases started to rise in Germany and disrupted business. The company has, however, recovered more than 30% from its low of £53 per share on March 19^th.

Siemens is currently valued at £61.07 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 12.70.