The particulars of the personnel reduce at Gamesa are simply across the nook: its proprietor and information to its future, the German firm Siemens Energy, will reveal its plans for its workforce in “weeks.” The firm maintains that the method can be as least dangerous as attainable for its staff, betting on relocations as a lot as attainable. But it doesn’t rule out layoffs, which most worries the unions, which have been in suspense for months. With virtually 5,000 employees, Spain is the second nation with essentially the most Gamesa staff, after Denmark and forward of Germany, India and the United Kingdom. The three Spanish factories are situated in Zamudio (Bizkaia), the place their headquarters are additionally situated; in Sarriguren (Navarra); and in Ágreda (Soria).
“We will announce it in weeks. We are closing the details and cannot yet offer figures; We will first present it to the unions,” harassed the CEO of the German big, Christian Bruch, in a gathering with the worldwide press. “Our intention is to keep the number of Siemens Gamesa workers as stable as possible and balance [con recolocaciones] wherever we can.” The paradox arises that this job reduce, whether or not or not it leads to relocations, happens at a time of acute scarcity of certified labor within the Old Continent. Above all, within the northern international locations, with the very industrial Germany on the helm.
The chief govt of Siemens Energy acknowledges that the sale or closure of its whole onshore wind turbine division, which has concentrated the majority of the issues which have led it to a really advanced monetary scenario, has come to be on the desk. An excessive that might have been a tough blow for its European factories – and, specifically, for the Spanish ones – that was lastly discarded. “We have analyzed all possible options, including the possibility of leaving altogether…”, he acknowledged on the assembly with the media, held in Mülheim (Germany) and which EL PAÍS attended as a visitor. “But, taking into consideration all the elements, such as the contracts we have signed for long-term services [con las eléctricas que operan las turbinas] and the attractive growth rates, we believe that it was not the best option. “It was, in fact, the most expensive alternative.”
Business continuity onshore, he says, implies that Europe won’t be the area most affected by the adjustment: in Brazil, for instance, a manufacturing facility has been compelled to hibernate. In alternate, nevertheless, Bruch asks for measures that guarantee truthful competitors with producers from different latitudes: “Obviously, if we choose to stay in Europe and, especially, in Spain, we need uniform rules of the game that include Chinese manufacturers of turbines.” The huge arrival of “ultra-cheap” wind generators from the Asian big has been the figuring out issue for Siemens Energy to throw within the towel in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East to focus on the wealthy bloc: the EU, the United States, Japan or New Zealand, amongst others.
“China has 25 wind turbine manufacturers and it is important to differentiate between them: some of them also say: 'at this price we can't compete either,' Bruch emphasizes. The “big problem and the big risk” for the Asian big, he provides, “is the overcapacity they have built in recent years.” Although he’s against “completely blocking access to the European market” and claims to be “aware that it is impossible to make the transition to renewables without the help of China”, the supervisor does ask for a “level” taking part in discipline: “ “Europe has to find that balance.”
A 12 months with out promoting a single turbine
After “more than twelve months” with out promoting a single onshore turbine, the pinnacle of Siemens Energy believes that this line of enterprise will proceed to say no for “one or two more years until it takes flight again.” His present plan, which entails returning this division to profitability in 2026, is “four or five” years away.
“There has to be a balance, too, between improving our cost structure, which is something we have to do to be competitive, and preserving as many jobs as we can,” says Bruch. “We are aware that it will take us years to get to the point we want, which is double-digit margins. But we need to see improvements now; hence the decisions we are making.” Although the chief acknowledges that when Siemens Energy launched the takeover bid for the Spanish firm, in 2022, he anticipated “something else”, he’s nonetheless “convinced that, despite the problems, Siemens Gamesa knows how to make wind turbines.”
Fortunately for the German big, the great progress of the remainder of its companies—most notably, the manufacturing of pure fuel vegetation and substations and electrical networks—have compensated for the current poor efficiency of its wind department. To the purpose of getting managed to get better all the bottom misplaced on the Stock Market initially of final summer time, when it communicated to the market new high quality issues in one in all its wind turbine fashions. “Four years ago everyone told us to get out of the gas turbine market [hoy una de las ramas más rentables para Siemens Energy], and as soon as possible. Now everyone tells us to get out of the wind industry. But that's not how a business works: we need to maintain this diversification.
He is more optimistic with the offshore wind division, a technology on which a good part of the decarbonization plans of several countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) rest, and in which Siemens Energy has auctions booked. for around 40 gigawatts (GW) of power for this year alone. However, the German company is postponing the opening of new factories until the existing ones are “at full capacity.”
The assist of the Spanish Government, prepared
When it emerged in November of final 12 months that the German Government would assist Siemens Energy with monetary ensures that might permit the continuity of its wind energy enterprise, the corporate started to speak to the Spanish Executive in order that it could additionally lend its shoulder in alternate for sustaining a part of its industrial operations on nationwide soil. Half a protracted 12 months later, these conversations are starting to bear fruit. “We are still in the process of negotiations,” Christian Bruch merely says, hoping that every thing can be prepared: once more, in “a few weeks.” “The Government's attitude is very constructive: I am very grateful for its collaboration and for the understanding of what we want to do. They were interested in our decision to [permanecer] in onshore wind,” says the pinnacle of Siemens Energy. And he provides: “Let's not forget that it is not about receiving money from taxpayers: on the contrary, we are going to pay for the guarantees.”
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https://elpais.com/economia/2024-05-16/siemens-gamesa-concretara-en-dos-semanas-el-recorte-de-empleo-que-tiene-en-vilo-a-sus-fabricas.html