The management board and workers council of the press giant have been negotiating over its 'Focus 2012' efficiency programme, which is to cut personnel costs and offer more flexible working time arrangements.

Employees' working weeks will be cut to 31.5 hours, which will see capacity at the German manufacturer's plants reduced by 15%. Ultimately, Heidelberg plans to employ a workforce of 14,000, down from 15,666 on 31 December 2011.

Heidelberg believe that the measures will help achieve targeted annual savings of around €180m (£150m) from the 2013/14 financial year, with up to a third of the savings already achieved in the next financial year.

The cost of the redundancy programme is expected to be around €150m, most of which will be posted during the 2011/2012 financial year.

Chief executive Bernhard Schreier said: "The outcome of the negotiations will enable us to adjust capacities to meet demand and achieve the announced savings as planned.

"In consultation with the workers' council and the IG Metall union, we have devised a responsible concept for making the required cost and capacity reductions on a socially acceptable and sustainable basis through the global job cuts announced."

Most of the job cuts in Germany will be achieved by mid-2014 through voluntary redundancies, including options for older staff. According to Heidelberg, this will ensure a balanced age structure at the company and prevent qualified staff from having to leave based on social criteria.