Samsung is laying off thousands of workers, the impact of lagging behind in AI market
South Korean electronics company Samsung has prepared to lay off a large number of its workers in many countries. This may result in a reduction of about 10 percent in the company’s workforce in some countries. It is facing tough competition from rivals like SK Hynix in the market of memory chips used in Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to Bloomberg report, the total number of Samsung workers is more than 2,67,000 and out of these, about 1,47,000 are abroad. It is making layoffs at its units in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. However, it does not plan to lay off workers in South Korea. A person with knowledge of the matter, who did not wish to be named, said workers from different teams had a meeting with HR managers and their reporting managers at Samsung’s Singapore office earlier this week. In this meeting, he was given information about retrenchment and severance package.
“Regular workforce adjustments are being made in some subsidiaries overseas. The company has not set any targets for specific positions,” a Samsung spokesperson said. The company’s shares have declined by more than 20 percent this year. The reason for this is the increasing difficulties in some markets for this big memory chip and smartphone maker. It is lagging behind its big rivals in the segment of memory chips used in AI. A few months ago, Samsung suddenly changed the head of its chip business. The new chief of this division, Jun Young hyun, had warned that the company would have to change its workplace culture to get out of the difficulties.
Even before this, Samsung has cut its workforce. One person said that recently it had reduced jobs in India and Latin America by about 10 percent. In this round of layoffs, the company may reduce its international workforce by about 10 percent. However, Samsung plans to save manufacturing jobs. This could lead to layoffs in management and support functions. These figures will depend on local labor regulations and financial priorities.
