Miele To Cut 1,077 Jobs in Germany

Miele, the German maker of household electrical goods, said Friday it planned to cut 1,077 jobs, or nearly 10 percent of its workforce in Germany, by the end of 2006. Miele employs some 15,117 people worldwide and 11,046 in Germany alone. Compulsory redundancies would be avoided where possible, executive Horst Schübel said. The job-cutting was necessary to improve the group's competitiveness in the long term, according to Miele. To this end, it also planned to invest €135 million ($175 million) in 2005. Miele chalked up sales of €2.2 billion last year, 70 percent of which were generated abroad.