Microsoft will implement another staff reduction, equivalent to an average of 3 % of the workforce. It will also restructure various areas to reduce costs.

The tech giant is investing heavily in artificial intelligence, putting pressure on its finances.

During the last fiscal quarter, Microsoft reported $70 billion, “a 13 % increase over the same period last year,” with net profits of $25.8 billion. However, further layoffs will be implemented, starting with sales departments to balance expenses.

Since 2023, Microsoft has laid off more than 20,000 people, about 9 % of the total, in its race to develop AI, a sector that, according to internal estimates, already handles 30% of internal projects.

The company is seeking to “reduce its middle management. This way, they can achieve flatter and more agile structures for decision-making in a time of rapid change like this. In short, fewer bosses, less bureaucracy, and more lines of code.”

The expenses that force staff reductions are allocated to the construction of data centers, as well as the training of models and artificial intelligence for the present and the future.

M.Pino

Source: genbeta

(Reference image source: Valent Lau on Unsplash)

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The serious financial situation that the German Volkswagen is going through could lead to an unusual decision, for the first time in the 87 years of the brand: the closure of plants in the country.

Affected by the increase in competition from Chinese electric car manufacturers, Volkswagen “is evaluating closing factories in Germany for the first time” according to a statement issued this Monday, September 2.

The German car manufacturer, one of the largest in the world, has indicated that other measures to “protect the company in the future include trying to end an employment protection agreement with unions, which has been in force since 1994.”

Oliver Blume, president and CEO of the Volkswagen Group, stated that the economic environment is difficult, marked by the prominence of new competitors in the European market.

The reality is that Germany, a manufacturing center, is increasingly behind in terms of competitiveness. On the other hand, the company now focuses on cost reduction in areas such as “factory expenses, supply chain and labor.”

Volkswagen’s workforce is around 683,000 worldwide, including around 295,000 in Germany. Volkswagen Passenger Car CEO Thomas Schaefer recently stated that the company will soon begin talks with employee representatives “to explore the possibilities of sustainable restructuring of the brand.”

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Source: cnnespanol

(Reference image source: Erik Mclean in Unsplash)

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The British bank Barclays is studying a strong restructuring that could include the dismissal of some 2,000 workers in the administrative and technology sectors, as well as the elimination of 2,500 clients among the least profitable.

The drastic measure is aimed at reducing costs by one billion pounds and, in addition, increasing its profits, as was learned this Tuesday.

In this regard, the union is putting pressure on the bank to avoid these layoffs. The organization’s secretary, Sharon Graham, has described the layoffs as shameful and believes that the bank is only seeking to increase its profits.

Throughout this year, Barclays executives have met to discuss this restructuring plan, codenamed Minerva, and which responds to “the pressures on the entity and its CEO, Coimbatore Venkatakrishnan, to return more capital to its investors, which would imply reducing the weight of this division of the banking entity.”

Among the measures that the bank has also addressed is raising capital “to buy a wealth management business or undertake a drastic reduction of commercial assets at the investment bank of up to 25 %.”

In any case, if the drastic reduction of clients in the lower profitable sectors is applied, the entity could release 20,000 million pounds in risk-weighted assets.

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Source: bolsamania

(Reference image source: Matthew LeJune, Unsplash)

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Meta would be preparing a new round of job cuts, according to Financial Times, which points out the delay of the multinational in the preparation of budgets for various teams in this context.

According to two Meta employees familiar with the situation, a lack of clarity about future budgets or headcount would have prevented planning for upcoming workloads, adding that projects and decisions that normally take days to approve now take around a month in some cases, including in priority areas, such as the metaverse and advertising.

In this way, according to three employees consulted by the British newspaper, despite the workforce adjustment last November, more cuts are expected around March, since the company is currently undergoing staff performance reviews.

Marck Zuckerberg, CEO of the company, defined the multinational’s efforts to control its costs during the current year as “the year of efficiency”, after the slowdown in the economy weighed down Meta’s results in 2022.

At the beginning of February, Meta reported that it obtained a net profit of 23,200 million dollars (21,725 ​​million euros) in 2022, which represented a drop of 41 % compared to the result recorded a year earlier, while its annual income added a total of 116,609 million dollars (109,197 million euros), 1.1 percent less than in 2021, which represents the first annual drop in the company’s turnover.

Meta’s chief financial officer, Susan Li, expressed confidence that total revenue for the first quarter of 2023 will be in the range of $26-28.5 billion, while she estimates that total expenses for the full year will be in the range of $89-28.5 billion. 95,000 million dollars (81,609 and 87,110 million euros), compared to the previous perspective of between 94,000 and 100,000 million dollars (86,194 and 91,695 million euros).

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: Dima Solomin, Unsplash)

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La entrada Meta plans a new round of layoffs apareció primero en Bitfinance.

The technology giant Apple would be considering suspending, or at least delaying, the production of the new iPhone SE 4. The reasons would be the fear of a recession in 2023 and to reduce costs.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, production of Apple’s new iPhone SE 4, scheduled to launch in 2024, could be suspended due to the company’s financial situation and the announced economic recession for the year ahead.

The specialist has added that the possible suspension of the next release would also be overshadowed by a poor distribution, or in any case much lower than expected, of the low-end iPhone.

Added to this is an increase in production costs for a full screen in the new iPhone SE, according to Ming-Chi Kuo.

“As a result, Apple may have to reconsider the positioning of the product and the return on investment for SE 4,” according to the dpa agency from its Twitter account, where he even points out that Apple could cut projects that represent high costs.

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With information from dpa and international media

(Photo: computerhoy, via web)

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Snapchat announced this week a 20 % reduction in its workforce, of approximately 6,400 workers. The measure seeks to reduce costs and address poor performance during the current quarter.

In statements to Bloomberg, the platform indicated that in this quarter they achieved only 8 % growth in their income. The parent company made the decision to cut staff, as well as hire an operations manager.

It is noteworthy that Snapchat has never had a single-digit growth rate. This worries the directors of the company, which is now oriented towards cost reduction. In fact, any project or development that does not contribute to increased sales will be cut.

Snapchat shares fell as much as 79 % in New York, to reach US$ 10.90, which places it in the worst scenario since 2017. Without a doubt, a worrying scenario for all departments, in particular for the sector of advertising.

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Source: latercera

La entrada Snapchat will cut 20 % of its workforce to save costs apareció primero en Bitfinance.