It was the latest of several such housecleanings by German companies, underscoring the sharply divergent paths that German government and industry are taking as they confront difficult economic questions.

The election, which left no party with a mandate to form a government, is widely being interpreted as a rebuke to efforts to overhaul Germany's economy. Whichever party finally emerges with a workable coalition, experts say, it is likely to think twice about tackling the German welfare state.

Siemens, Germany's largest engineering company, said it had no choice but to make painful cuts. It is phasing out the jobs, in its computer-services unit, as part of a push to reduce costs by nearly $2 billion.

"Only successful companies create jobs and security," Klaus Kleinfeld, the chief executive of Siemens, said in a conference call with analysts and journalists.

With an economy that has stagnated for the past four years, Germany now has more than four million people out of work, close to a record in the postwar period. The chronic unemployment has sapped the confidence of consumers, depriving Germany of the recovery that even long-dormant Japan is now experiencing.

The steady loss of jobs was a central issue here this year, during which major employers like Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank announced deep employment cuts in their home market.

Some experts welcome the aggressiveness of those companies, saying it is a reason not to view the political deadlock in Berlin with too much alarm. While Germany's politicians may conclude there is no support for radical change, they say, business people are pressing ahead.

"German industry is restructuring quickly," said John C. Kornblum, a former American ambassador to Germany who now runs Lazard's office in Berlin. "The companies are taking care of a chunk of Germany's problems, without the government helping them."

As a result, he said, the German economy has become increasingly competitive in the past few years, enabling it to retain its status as the world's leading exporter. But the private sector cannot by itself fix Germany's unemployment crisis; its solution is mainly to cut jobs or move them out of the country, throwing more people out of work.

By: DocMemory
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