Siemens Factory for Industrial Power Supply in Vienna Closes 2026

Siemens will close its Vienna factory for industrial power supplies by the end of 2026. The company is looking for positions within the company for the 178 affected employees. "Currently, there are about 100 open positions at Siemens in Austria," the German electronics giant informs.

Siemens to Close Vienna Factory in 2026: Management for Global Industrial Power Supply Business Remains in Vienna

The reason given for the closure is to strengthen competitiveness by adjusting capacities in the automation sector worldwide. "Part of these measures are changes in the industrial sector at Siemens Austria," the company said. In parallel, the European production capacities at the factory in Sibiu, Romania, will be "used as needed," Siemens announced on Thursday. This measure will leverage synergies in the region managed by Austria.

The management of the global business for industrial power supplies, including the research and development center and product and quality management, will remain in Vienna. In total, about 9,300 people work for Siemens in Austria. The turnover in the fiscal year 2023 was 3.2 billion euros. Siemens Austria manages another 25 countries from Vienna.

Yesterday, the German automotive supplier Schaeffler announced that it will close its factory in Berndorf, Lower Austria, at the end of next year. 450 employees are affected. It was previously known that the traditional Upper Austrian company KTM had slipped into bankruptcy. The Pierer Mobility subsidiary is currently preparing an application for a restructuring procedure with self-administration. This is to be submitted tomorrow, Friday.

Industrial Association Alarmed After Siemens Announcement

The Industrial Association sounded the alarm on Thursday. "Every day we receive new news of companies getting into trouble. Factory closures, job cuts, negotiations on wage renunciation, and bankruptcies are increasing," regretted IV President Georg Knill in a statement. "We have been warning for months of similar scenarios - what else needs to happen before countermeasures are finally taken?" he asked towards politics. But a new federal government is only in negotiation and it could take a while until it is in place.

The reasons are "varied and unfortunately also homemade" from the perspective of the industry representative. Knill specifically mentioned the "high inflation and irresponsibly high wage settlements of recent years". Unit labor costs have risen by 30.2 percent in this country since 2021, but only by 14.3 percent in Germany, and only by 7.1 percent in Italy, Knill calculated. Therefore, local competitiveness is suffering massively. With KTM, the main company of the Upper Austrian president of the IV, Stefan Pierer, has announced a bankruptcy application for tomorrow, Friday.

Production Union Criticizes Industrial Association

Knill's comparison of the local with the German tariff system immediately brought the union to a boil. The IV disqualifies itself with "supposed arguments (...) as a partner for an active location and industrial policy," said PRO-GE boss Reinhold Binder. The two systems cannot be compared, for example, a 35-hour week applies in large parts of the German metal and electrical industry. "In addition, key economic indicators were different in the past and the growth rates of the Austrian industry far above that of Germany. If the IV's analysis were correct, then Germany would now be an economic locomotive and not in crisis mode," said Binder. Energy costs in Austria have also risen more sharply since 2020 than wages in the industry.

"To pretend that collective wage agreements are not agreed in a social partnership, but dictated by the unions, is unrealistic," said Binder. He accuses the IV of "the real intention to gradually devalue the wages and salaries of employees". The statements of the IV president are "last class" and correspond to "post-factual propaganda".

In the statement of the production union, Binder asks with a view to KTM and boss Pierer in the direction of IV: "Where were the warning words to those owners who, instead of financing future investments, pursued an irresponsible dividend policy? Where was the commitment to a black-green federal government when it refused to intervene in energy prices and thus let inflation run rampant?". With the deepening of the crisis, the representatives of employees and employers also seem to be increasingly critical of each other. According to the statements, it is likely that the trenches are widening.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.