New York Times: Siemens to Cut 7,800 Jobs Worldwide
Siemens, one of Germany’s flagship industrial companies, said on Friday that it planned to cut 7,800 jobs, or 2.3 percent of its workforce worldwide, as it eliminates layers of management in an attempt to become as profitable as its main competitors.
About 3,300 of the job cuts will be in Germany. Over all, the company’s staffing levels will remain stable worldwide, it said, because Siemens will invest about 1 billion euros, or about $1.1 billion, in improving its sales force and in research and development. Siemens has about 340,000 employees worldwide, including 46,000 in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Reuters: Australian Wind Farms Face $13 Billion Wipeout
Australia faces a A$17 billion (US $13.3 billion) exodus of investment from its wind farm industry because of a political deadlock, threatening to deal the country a major economic blow and kill hopes of meeting a self-imposed clean energy target.
Some 44 Australian wind farm projects, about half overseas-funded, have been shelved since a new conservative government said it wanted to cut state support for the industry a year ago, with investors and operators saying they are considering either downscaling or leaving the country altogether if it succeeds.
Bloomberg Business: Want Elon Musk to Hire You at Tesla? Work for Apple
Tesla has hired at least 150 former Apple employees, more than from any other company, even carmakers. The former Apple staffers work in many areas of the 6,000-employee automaker, including engineering and law. “From a design philosophy, [Apple] is relatively closely aligned,” says Musk, Tesla’s co-founder and chief executive officer. Apple declined to comment for this story.
As cars become more like computers, and traditional U.S. automakers struggle to attract Silicon Valley talent, Tesla’s ability to lure people from Apple gives it an edge in developing cars of the future. “It’s almost an unfair advantage,” says Adam Jonas, an auto industry analyst at Morgan Stanley. “As software goes from 10 percent of the value of the car to 60 over 10 years, that disadvantage [for traditional carmakers] will intensify.”
Associated Press: Georgia Lawmakers Consider Changes to Electric Car Tax Credits
Georgia's generous $5,000 tax credit for electric vehicles is the target of three separate bills in the state House, including one lawmaker trying to end the write-off altogether.
Two other bills would lower the credit over time and expand the type of vehicles eligible in the meantime -- including the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt or Toyota's line of hybrid cars and SUVs.
The debate in Georgia comes as other states mull credits as a way to boost sales of alternative fuel vehicles with a higher sticker price than traditional cars. The U.S. Energy Department is in the midst of a campaign to make electric vehicles more affordable in the next 10 years, with consumer rebates high on the list of strategies.
FedScoop: Could EPA Take a Cue From Amazon.com?
To stay on top of environmental regulations, a company might have to file reports with county, state and federal regulators.
But what if governments had a portal that operated like Amazon.com?
Just as the dot-com giant offers users related products based on their search history, a new system could prompt a company to file a report with, say, Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 once it sees the company has filed a similar report with Indiana regulators.