Samsung Electronics Australia has confirmed that the local operation is set to be impacted by the global culling of their workforce with layoffs set to impact the South Korean Company.
At this stage it’s not known which divisions in Australia will be impacted the most, however the plan to reduce global headcount by thousands of jobs is now in its early stages with observers claiming a 10% culling of the workforce in an effort to cut costs.
The move comes as organisations such as Dell, Lenovo, and LG Australia have this year moved to reduce their headcount.
ChannelNews is aware based on GFK and IDC data that sales of TV’s display and appliances have come under pressure this year with Samsung Australia’s mobile division delivering growth particularly in the premium smartphone category where flip and fold devices are contributing to growth at Samsung.
A Samsung Australia executive has confirmed the cuts to ChannelNews, we also understand that New Zealand and other Southeast Asian Countries will be impacted by the move to trim headcount.
The local spokesperson said “Some offices are conducting routine workforce adjustments. We are unable to speak for other regions or markets”.
According to Bloomberg the South Korean company has about 147,000 staff overseas, more than half of its total employees of more than 267,800.
Earlier this year Samsung Electronics Australia reported profits of $51.185 million at December 2023 Vs $101.245M as of the same period in 2022.
Revenues fell to $2.872 billion Vs $3.375 billion at December 2022.
A Samsung global spokesperson said, “Some overseas subsidiaries are conducting routine workforce adjustments to improve operational efficiency,”.
“The company has not set a target number for any particular positions.” they said.
At Samsung Singapore staff were called into private meetings on Tuesday with HR managers and their reporting managers and were informed of the retrenchment and severance package details according to Bloomberg.
A Samsung global spokesperson said, “Some overseas subsidiaries are conducting routine workforce adjustments to improve operational efficiency,”.
“The company has not set a target number for any particular positions.” they said.
“Some overseas subsidiaries are conducting routine workforce adjustments to improve operational efficiency,” a Samsung spokesperson said.
The company has reduced the size of its workforce in the past as it’s navigated the notoriously cyclical memory chip market. Samsung recently trimmed about 10% of jobs in India and some parts of Latin America, according to one of the people.
We understand the Company that is recovering from a processor and chip downturn aims to preserve manufacturing jobs with this division seen as a growth entity as demand for processors and AI technology is set to boom.
