Foreign media: South Korea's Samsung Electronics plans to cut 30% of overseas employees this year

According to foreign media reports, South Korea's Samsung Electronics company plans to carry out global layoffs this year, some departments of the company will cut 30% of the overseas staff.

Reuters recently quoted sources as saying that Samsung Electronics has instructed its global subsidiaries to cut about 15% of their sales and marketing staff and reduce administrative staff by up to 30%. The program will be implemented by the end of the year and will affect jobs in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The layoff "instructions" were issued about three weeks ago, and Samsung India has already paid severance packages to some mid-level employees who left in recent weeks. It is reported that Samsung India may eventually lay off nearly 1,000 employees. Samsung employs about 25,000 people in India.

In response to media inquiries on Friday, Samsung Electronics said that staff adjustments implemented by some overseas companies are routine operational optimization aimed at improving efficiency, and the company has not set a reduction target for any specific position.

According to Samsung Electronics' latest sustainability report, the company had about 267,800 employees at the end of 2023, with more than half of them overseas.

Reuters analysis, Samsung Electronics key departments are facing increasing pressure. The company's core chip business has been slow to recover from a deep industry recession, and in the high-end smartphone market, Samsung faces stiff competition from Apple and Huawei.

The report quoted sources as saying that the job cuts are in response to reduced global demand for technology products due to the global economic slowdown, and Samsung is trying to maintain profits by saving costs.