SAP
SAP announced on Thursday that it will be cutting 2.5 per cent of its worldwide workforce. The decision has been taken as a step to reduce its overall expenses and prioritise its cloud operations.
Reportedly, the company noted a 30 per cent increase in revenue for its cloud business in the fourth quarter of the year, which was driven by high demand for its software.
Despite record profits in the last year, tech companies are preparing for a more challenging economic environment in 2023 and hence trying to cut their expenses by layoffs. The decision will affect nearly 3,000 jobs at the company. The firm is planning to eliminate slightly more than 200 jobs from its base unit, situated in Germany, as reported by First Post.
Additionally, the company has also plans to sell its remaining shares in Qualtrics. SAP acquired the company for $8 billion in 2018 and went public in 2021 at a valuation of nearly $21 billion. However, Qualtrics has seen a significant decrease in value since then and is currently valued at $7 billion. SAP currently holds a 71 per cent stake in Qualtrics.
Hasbro
Hasbro, a renowned toy manufacturer stated that it will be reducing 15 per cent of its worldwide workforce this year. These job cuts, along with investments in systems and supply chain, will assist the company in achieving its target of $250-300 million in annual cost savings by the end of 2025.
As per Investing.com, after the market closed on Thursday, Hasbro Inc.’s (NASDAQ: HAS) shares dropped 4 per cent following the company’s announcement of plans to lay off 1,000 employees and preliminary fourth-quarter results that fell below analysts’ expectations due to a weak consumer products division.
Chris Cocks, CEO, Hasbro, said that the Consumer Products segment did not perform well in the fourth quarter due to a difficult holiday sales environment. This was despite strong growth in areas such as Wizards of the Coast, Digital Gaming, Hasbro Pulse, and licensing. The company now expects its fourth-quarter revenue to decrease 17 per cent compared to last year, reaching $1.68 billion, instead of the Wall Street estimate of $1.92 billion.
Sirion Labs
According to a report by Inc42, US-based startup SirionLabs, has recently laid off approximately 15 per cent of its total workforce. This layoff occurred just 15 days after the startup raised $25 million.
The company recently announced that it has raised $25 million in Series D funding from Brookfield Growth, bringing the total funding raised to $110 million. Previously, the company had raised $85 million in a funding round led by Partners Group.
The CEO and co-founder of the contract management startup, Ajay Agrawal, sent a message on January 17 to inform employees of the decision to reduce the workforce across locations, as cited by Inc42.
SirionLabs, a smart contract management services provider was founded in 2019. The company is supported by investors such as Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global and operates in several countries including the US, UK, France, Australia, India, Singapore, and Germany.
The company offers services such as extraction, authoring, obligation management, and collaboration, and has over 250 clients in 70 countries, managing a total of five million contracts worth $450 billion. The founders of the company are Ajay, Kanti Prabha, and Clauded Marais.
The company has also raised approximately $170 million in funding from investors.
TIER
The German-based micro-mobility company, Tier Mobility, has announced that it will be laying off 7% of its workforce as a part of its restructuring efforts. This is the second round of layoffs for the company, as in August of last year, it reduced its workforce by 180 employees, citing a poor funding environment and uncertain economic conditions.
The layoffs and restructuring are part of a pivot in the company’s overall strategy, from all-out growth mode to a profitability first mind set. The recent job cuts will affect approximately 80 employees in the company.
The company is also reducing the size of its US-based bicycle-sharing system company, Spin, by about 20 employees. The company will also close a small number of cities where it does not see a path to profitability, and discontinue several side projects, including its own vehicle design program and the Tier Energy Network.
