Reuters, citing its own sources, reports that the South Korean company Samsung Electronics is preparing to cut some of its staff outside the country. Marketing and sales staff may lose up to 15% of their workforce, and other administrative positions will be reduced by up to 30%.
Image Source: Samsung Electronics
The company expects to implement this plan by the end of this year; it will affect personnel in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. A detailed breakdown of Samsung’s workforce reduction plan is not provided. Samsung representatives declined to comment on this information, citing its confidential nature. According to them, staff reduction in Samsung’s foreign divisions is a regular event aimed at increasing operational efficiency. Production personnel will not be affected by these events, according to company representatives.
At the end of 2023, Samsung had 267,800 employees worldwide, with just over half (147,000) working outside of South Korea. The bulk of them are involved in the production and development of chips; administrative specialists, including marketing and sales, account for about 53,000 people. According to Reuters, the company’s staff reductions in India began three weeks ago. Of Samsung’s 25,000 local employees, about 1,000 may lose their jobs. In China, according to unofficial data, Samsung may cut up to 30% of its sales staff.
It is not specified whether the company’s employees in South Korea will be laid off. Such measures cannot be popular here for political reasons, since they create a great public outcry. As in South Korea, Samsung employees in India recently went on strike in hopes of improving pay and working conditions. The company’s stock price hit its lowest level in 16 months on Wednesday due to concerns about weak demand for smartphones and personal computers, which Samsung supplies with its components.