Siemens to cut 2,700 jobs from power generation division

German industrial giant Siemens is to cut 2,700 jobsin its power generation division, 1,400 of them in Germany, thecompany said on Tuesday.Its bases in Berlin and the Bavarian city of Erlangen will be theworst affected.Siemens has long been feeling the strain from overcapacity in the gasturbine market and the Energiewende, or energy transition, Germany'sdrive to use more renewable energy sources. Although long-term maintenance contracts continue to generate goodprofits, sales fell to 2.8 billion euros (3.1 billion dollars) in thepast quarter. Siemens already announced significant job cuts and areorganization in the autumn.  In May, the company announced that its power generation division,called Gas and Power (GP), would have to find a further 500 millioneuros in addition to an existing programme of cuts.The latest changes are expected to achieve that through a combinationof merging different businesses, a new regional set-up and optimizingof support functions.Chief executive Joe Kaeser plans to float the division on the stockexchange by September next year.Executive board member Lisa Davis said the measures would "help us tocreate more growth opportunities."The IG Metall workers' union said the plans were unimaginative. "In amarket that is growing in the long term, with long cycles, ashort-term reduction in the number of employees is not the right wayto go, especially in view of the increasing shortage of skilledworkers," it said.