Thread regarding SAP layoffs

CoE is dead :(

Nothing is wrong with SAP.

@wc The entire market is down, all the anaylists have it as a buy or hold and all have an expectation of 50% growth but everything is going in the opposite direction. That's because the stock market is just a betting market by a lot of flighty people with very limited knowledge and has zero to do with the real world and the sooner we stop caring about the secondary trading markets for things the better the world will be.

@OP what's going on with SAP share price this week ?

It's a free fall !

@jz There is another option, become a HRBP then be promoted to Tech Manager.

If all the HRBPs are flying to Waldorf, and there is an employee all hands the first week of December that was just announced, that can only mean mass layoffs to be announced. Last ditch effort to goose the stock price. Some people speculate that it is a big acquisition, but SAP would not stop every employee from working for an hour to announce an acquisition !

@jn read this book 2 or 3 times
https://a.co/d/bH9jyft

@mr mistake in this post, it was meant for the id--t that keeps posting about trust in the board.

@jn you are an id--t just for posting this.

@OP and a Bravo to you. This is exactly what is happening and been happening for years, we just see it more because of the change of CEO and his rookie mistakes.

It’s shameful and terrible. Worst part the change of leadership and the no-progress in your career and the BS they feed you.

I reported to 13 managers in 15 years, my career went nowhere despite the hard work.

In other companies they offer you RSU’s.

Unfortunately the maker is terrible in terms of talent and hiring.

The good news. Save your energy and save your money.

@ky well, you’ll see the anti Indian and anti Muslim sentiment even here on this site. And it has gotten worse with time. The post after this one was clearly created to increase this anti Indian sentiment.

But the white men part actually made me chuckle. I just took a look at all managers in my board area and 77% of them fill the criteria mentioned in the post. And I could add another 8% to that if “balding” wasn’t a criteria.

I don’t take offense with the OP statement and neither should you. After all, our HQ and main offices are based near Heidelberg and SAP has a long history of hiring from nearby universities. SAP also has a lower immigrant to Europeans ratio compared to other companies so you’ll rarely see immigrants in good management positions. But what bothers me is that we don’t give enough opportunities for women to grow in management positions. Maybe we can encourage and help women to grow their career at SAP? That’s my takeaway.

"anti muslim"
"anti women"
"anti migrant"
proceeds to complain about white men.

discrimination is only okay if it is the discrimination that you accept. what an awful person.

I agree with most of what you have written - although I’ve personally never observed an anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim sentiment. For other posters, yes - locations are closing or have been closed - just look at Palo Alto. When DA arrived he announced that SAP was run for the benefit of the employees and now it will be run for the benefit of the shareholders. For a while, layoffs were enough to raise the share price but even that strategy seems not to be sufficient to stop the share price slide. Nevertheless, they will double down on layoffs because SAP is not in growth mode, it’s in cost control/reduce overhead mode and other than leases, employees/benefits are the biggest cost. All companies rise and fall - SAP is on the decline, the execs know it and are extracting maximum personal benefit before it’s too late. You can go down with the Titanic, or find a lifeboat before it’s too late.

@OP as a long term employee myself (+20 years) I think we developed this sentiment of belonging and attachment to SAP. Now we are upset because the feelings weren't shared by the company and we understood that we are just numbers and we are managed by threat to be fired/replaced by an AI agent.

This reminds me of the movie title "No country for old men" which we can safely say that there's no software place for us "old men" in this software industry and we need to setup a way out plan either by accepting a package after restructuring or investing.

@gn “ In moments like these, it’s fair to question whether such travel is truly necessary. Could these costs have supported a few more roles or extended employment for impacted staff? Many of us on the engineering side feel the weight of these decisions deeply we continue to build and innovate while wondering. We engineers are building the company and the HR and the support functions are enjoying it.”

The board and executives at SAP believe that all developers can eventually be replaced with AI. So what’s the use trying to invest in them anyway? HR colleagues are important in the short term because they will help quell the controversies around layoffs and take care of any engineers who oppose this change. But before coming for engineers, they’re coming for other support staff such as support engineers, designers, product owners, QA engineers.

It’s disheartening to see the direction SAP is heading. Having been part of this company for so long, it’s painful to witness the current layoffs and the uncertainty many colleagues are facing. At the same time, I’ve learned that HRBPs from across the globe are flying to Germany for a week-long in-person meeting which could easily cost around 200k$
In moments like these, it’s fair to question whether such travel is truly necessary. Could these costs have supported a few more roles or extended employment for impacted staff? Many of us on the engineering side feel the weight of these decisions deeply we continue to build and innovate while wondering. We engineers are building the company and the HR and the support functions are enjoying it. Does board leaders have become so week to not even as these questions to HR Leader and the CFO who is making these hasty decisions
I hope leadership reflects on these choices with transparency, empathy, and financial prudence. Strong, people-first decision-making is more important now than ever.
Do the board leaders have become so week to not even as these questions to HR Leader and the CFO who is making these hasty decisions?

@dj they used to be known as "people leads," and for many of them, Signavio was their first job in tech. Aside from coaching on DEI and HR matters, all other work was managed by tech leads. The management at Signavio aimed to transition these people leads into HR roles and elevate the tech leads to development managers. However, SAP integration team and HR pushed back, arguing that for a smooth integration into SAP, the engineering management at Signavio should be replaced with SAP staff. As a result, most of Signavio's management departed. And these former people leads have taken on the role of development managers. They’re participating in a few "curated" online training sessions for three months to enhance their technical skills to match those of T4 development experts and architects. Since their backgrounds closely resemble those of HR colleagues, this has created an opportunity for HR staff to step into development manager positions.

The individuals who attempted to resist this shift either "quit" Signavio or, in some instances, were also assigned development manager positions under HPOM.

The current Signavio management doesn’t want this information shared with other SAP areas. That’s why you’ll see so much spam on posts where this topic and Signavio are mentioned.

Six seven?

It is ridiculous to have HR manage the tech team... that is why in Germany we have 300+ HRBP?

@am I don’t think OP should do that. Even if you post anonymously, the user ID of any message can still be traced. There is a failsafe built in to catch anyone who could paste illegal content and it wouldn’t be hard for a board member to find out who posted this.

The only reasonable way this can be brought to the all hands is by an employee who’s already on their way out or by a member of the Works Council on behalf of the OP.

Don’t rely on unfiltered comments or “anonymous” messages. They have enough data markers associated with them to find out who posted it.

OP you should post this exact message in the employee all hands

@a4 not sure if unionizing would help. With every additional layoff, the total number of SAP employees goes down and so does the total number of Works Council members, Supervisory Board members, union leaders, etc.

I wonder if there is a way to work together with management than against them. I don't have a solution but I see the problems OP mentioned.

@a5 Are the location closing down? We don't know and OP never said that.
But are there rumors? Yes, at least in the Berlin office saying they want to close that down and only keep the Potsdam one as it is cheaper.

Your reply is a textbook example of criticism without adding to the conversation.

Rumors regarding closing locations other than Walldorf and St Leon Rot. What is the source? Trust me bro?

@OP I share some of your criticisms.

What can we do?

Maybe unionizing to a larger degree than today would be an option.

Six seven