European software giant SAP joined the parade of tech companies laying off staff, announcing on Thursday that it was cutting about 2,900 jobs after the iconic US tech company IBM said it was slashing about 3,900 jobs.
These numbers add to the 150,000 jobs cut last year and about 30 per cent of that number that was reported by ComputerWorld on Wednesday.
SAP said that the jobs cut would be about 2.5 per cent of its workforce of about 112,000.
The Germany-headquartered company also said that it wants to dump its 71 per cent ownership of US software company Qualtrics.
SAP CEO Christian Klein, in a streamed video, called the layoffs “very targeted restructuring” that would help it focus on “areas where we are strongest to continue our accelerated growth”.
IBM linked the layoffs announced Wednesday to spinning off its tech services unit and the sale of its health services unit, asserting that it was not linked to revenues.
IBM said that its quarterly revenue was up by 6 per cent to $16.7 billion.
IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna presented a positive picture saying: “Looking ahead to 2023, we expect full-year revenue growth consistent with our mid-single digit model.”
“Clients in all geographies increasingly embraced our hybrid cloud and AI solutions as technology remains a differentiating force in today’s business environment,” he added.
