ELECTRONICS giant Siemens shed a further 50 temporary workers this week at its Congleton plant in the wake of a further drop in orders.

The layoffs at the drives manufacturing factory brings to 129 the number of temporary jobs lost at the plant since November, leaving 40 temporary workers at Congleton.

A spokesman for Siemens said the latest layoffs were forced on the company by a further downturn in orders due to customers forecasts which had not materialised.

''With customer optimism failing to be reflected in the order books, and the need to reduce high stock levels, it is regrettable that 50 temporary posts cannot be maintained,'' he said.

''However this still leaves more than temporary posts.''

He added that an expected upturn in orders had not yet emerged, although the company still anticipated 1999 sales to be similar last year's figures.

''But with the necessary reduction in stock levels production must be reduced by over 60,000 drives,'' he said.

''The management team is pursuing every possible avenue to reduce overheads so that we remain competitive in a fluctuating world market.''

Some 17 temporary workers were laid off at the factory in November, followed by a further 32 before Christmas, and 30 more in February.

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