THE WORLD
Updated Wednesday, January 24, 2024-12:47
Layoffs Not everyone fits in the AI race: big technology companies resume layoffs
The German technology company
SAP
has announced
the layoff of up to 8,000 workers
as part of a plan to focus on its strategic areas with a special focus on artificial intelligence.
The company
will invest 2,000 million euros
in this restructuring that has been received with fury on the stock market.
The company's shares have soared by 7%, driven by the measure and good economic results, reaching historical highs above 161 euros.
The layoffs amount to 7.4% of the workforce
and come a year after the company carried out another adjustment of 3,000 employees in January of last year.
In parallel, the company announced that it had more than doubled its net profit to
6,103 million euros
during the last year.
Specifically, it has earned 167% more than the previous year, according to
Europa Press.
SAP is one of the largest technology companies in Europe.
With a capitalization that is close to 195,000 million euros.
In Spain, the company has almost a thousand employees.
The multinational from Walldorf (Germany) expects that the majority of positions affected by the restructuring will be covered through voluntary resignations and internal retraining measures.
Thus, taking into account reinvestments in strategic growth areas, SAP expects to close 2024 with a workforce similar to current levels.
The company's revenues amounted to
31,207 million euros, 6% more
, of which 13,664 million euros came from the cloud, a business vertical that has increased by 20%.
SAP's layoffs join a new wave of cuts at technology companies that are linked to the sector's growing focus on artificial intelligence.
Google and Amazon have also made cuts in recent weeks, as other companies like Spotify did at the end of the year.