Over the past few months there have been multiple reports that Samsung is downsizing its workforce as it wants to cut down on costs, at one point such reports were rubbished by the company, only for one to surface from China claiming that the company was cutting 1,000 jobs in the People’s Republic. According to a new report out of Korea the company is firing managerial-level workers and executives to further cut down on costs. A Samsung official cited in the report says that the company’s top priority is to save costs, “Average workers with mediocre performance are being advised to leave the company with a sizable compensation,” the official says.
The official adds that this latest downsize corresponds to a plan to reduce workforce in countries where Samsung operates manufacturing plants, with human resource officials at those units said to be meeting with employees to persuade them to join the “voluntary retirement system.” It’s unclear how much of its workforce Samsung is going to trim, industry watchers are of the view that Samsung Electronics may let go up to 30 percent of its workforce concentrated in marketing, finance and human resource divisions. This move comes at a time when Samsung has posted its first quarterly operating profit growth after seven straight quarters of decline and the initiation of a massive $9.9 billion share buyback program. The scribe reached Samsung for an on-the-record comment on this matter but the company said it had no comment about layoff plans.