Thread regarding SAP layoffs

the irony is when we go to our customers, we talk about FTE reduction as a function of implementing our solutions and how they can create value over people reduction. On the other hand, I reckon some of our US colleagues are republican of which believes in the free markets and against work councils or unionization or they would call the obstacle before the mobility of the workforce:) Sometimes, we are the managers acting as the employer just because we earn just 30% more than the team and work on team efficiency and people lay off and carry the baton.... you just need to be in the workforce and in life long enough to digest those - at least for me - .... still amazes me

How can people be so clueless as to what AI will do for the business world so as to think that some job is so complex, sophisticated, elaborate that it will eliminate any intrusion from advancement is, well, quite frankly bravado at it lowest levels.

Please do not use self importance as a way to diminish or negate what technology will do. And the advancements in just how fast AI will support many business functions, will amaze and come in very short order. Why you might ask - it's called - all about "money".

I would see not just "spot" layoffs, but rather I think SAP has been using all of this time in looking at complete functions and what is the value add for each. I remember some years ago when an entire department in NSQ of more than 100 was laid off, so we know it happens.

Keep in mind CK and the Board has had this 8000 ( or whatever is the real number) in mind for a long time. Most likely they have planned on this layoff since Q3 of last year and therefore have spent a good deal of time looking at what in their minds is a revenue enabler function and what isn't.

Gone are the days when the output of teams was viewed more holistically and how these functions could "help" the entire organization. If you are not "directly" contributing to sales revenue, most likely you are not valued in today's SAP.

I would not be at all surprised to see entire teams/functions let go and for teams whose output is viewed as only marginally worthwhile then merged with other teams and all the extras let go - basically reducing teams by 50% or more.

We must all realize that we stopped being a "software development" company when McDermott took over and then became just a sales organization - and if you are not adding to the sales party, then you will be excused.

I am doing quite well in my current job in NA, however, over the years I have learned new skills and collaborated with other teams and now I have a great disconnect with my current work, and want to pursure other opportunities at SAP. But I am shown the middle finger everytime I express my interest in working for a different team. This is a very frustrating situation for me. I want to quit and was hoping to get laid off. Any suggestios for me what can I do?

Agreed. Everyone really should have been connecting with their network from when in January the announcements on layoffs were made.

We should be looking at this more like a tiered layoff approach vs one time and done. The low margins in cloud simply cannot support a workforce of 100,000 that was completely built on the EFP platform and all that that encompassed. We left that space some time ago and now we are competing against mom and pop companies from all over the globe.

Whether in the next remaining weeks before the layoff notifications or thereafter everyone in US should be looking for an "escape" plan and maintain all of their external contacts.

32% sounds about right - at a minimum 25%. This is just the beginning. I speculate that all jobs won’t be offshored, they’ll be eliminated. SAP likely wants to reduce the overall workforce to 50-60k to get better margins. SAP has “Salesforce envy” and wants to get to their cloud margin numbers. CK and the board want the stock price to improve at all costs because they personally benefit and then they’ll be gone in 3-5 years when customers won’t renew.

VERP accepted. Good luck everyone.

@jkw+1rw8lgjT

I wrote the post and I also hope it's not 32% layoff, but what leads me to this conclusion is that we know no one will get laid off in Germany ( or anywhere else where there is a works council like France, ...) and we also know they have no intent of laying off in low cost locations which is where they want to expand.

So then what does that leave? Just the USA. There is no employee works council ( or Govt) protection here, it is seen as a high cost location, there has been significant HC growth due to the acquisition process of the last 15 years, the high expense to maintain the type of offices we have in so many locations and there is seen to be duplication of roles in all the various US locations which can be consolidated and then offshored to a low cost location.

Therefore in my mind, I see the overwhelming number of layoffs coming to the US, since there is no place else they will get such a large financial return on dropping people as they will here and therefore it unfortunately stands out. Like I said I hope I am wrong, but given the circumstances I see the US taking the lion share of layoffs, of whatever the actual final number will be.

I also see a short and long term plan that CK and the Board have for all US functions.  First, I believe at this point, all that SAP needs from the US is customers and US dollars.  If they can do this without any so called "expensive" employees in the US, then  all is good.

Whether you are in a Development, Marketing, Finance, Project Management, etc positions, we know that the long term plan is to run these out of a low cost locations.  short term is to get rid of as much as possible in the US to help with keeping profitable numbers in light of the fact that we are shifting to  a business which offers much smaller margins.

Ask yourself this,  next to Germany,  the US has the next highest population of employees and also  consistently matches the overall revenue of all the EMEA countries combined, you would think it is a pretty important piece of SAP overall structure. So how many times in the last 5 years have you seen one of our Board Members in Palo Alto or NSQ where they addressed the employees, listened to their concerns and took feedback? I bet you are still thinking...

Let's face it,  SAP has come to the point where they have decided that the US offers a great big wallet, but for the future generation of SAP, they at most need a skeleton crew of employees here and these must be only those involved in a sales/customer facing role.   Otherwise the new SAP does not have much need for US based employees.

Times have changed.

Time to get familiar with what AI and Chatbots are doing, wont be long before they are performing human tasks. Today it is already used for Sales and Business Forecasting, voice to text, Automated responders....

As an example, I used to think what was the value of GPS's when they first came out.... I had to type in all of the info like, name of location, address, etc, of where I wanted to go.... today based on predictive behavior patterns, when I get in the car on specific days and certain times, it already knows where I want to go and programs in the route no matter where I am based.

just a matter of time that AI will do the same and much, much more, for the business world.

"Ai will take care of the rest - jobs like telemarketing, accounting, sales support, customer support, selected legal support " this is a joke right? AI is in no position to take over these duties. Justifying this layoff as an aspect of inevitable technological progress is disingenuous, and frankly EVIL. It's standard cost cutting at the expense of humanity, for the benefit of the investor class. Call it what it is.

32% of the US workforce? Sounds insane. Hope its not that much.