SAP and IBM presented their annual results and announced layoffs. Some 2,800 jobs should disappear at SAP and 3,900 at IBM.
SAP presented its annual results for the 2022 financial year. The publisher garnered a turnover of 30.9 billion euros, including 12.6 billion in the cloud. The publisher notes its strong growth in certain markets, including Switzerland.
At 8 billion (non-IFRS), the operating result is however in decline. To improve its profitability, the software giant intends to act on its costs and announces its plan to lay off 2.5% of its workforce, or some 2,800 employees. SAP estimates that this restructuring will reduce its annual operational costs by 300 to 350 million euros.
Qualtrics Sortie
SAP also announces its plan to sell its shares in Qualtrics. The German publisher had bought this specialist in online employee surveys (Voice of Employee in Gartner language) for 8 billion dollars in 2018. Three years later, SAP brought Qualtrics on the stock market, while remaining its main shareholder. The publisher therefore intends to get rid of this participation and explains that the operation will be beneficial for the two companies and their shareholders, each company being able to concentrate on its core business.
IBM cuts 3,900 jobs
On the occasion of the announcement of the annual results, IBM also announced layoffs. Asked by Bloomberg, James Kavanaugh, CFO of the group, mentioned the figure of 1.5% of the workforce, or some 3,900 employees. The reduction is expected to target staff at Watson Health (medical AI) and Kyndryl, an IBM spin-off specializing in infrastructure management.
> On the topic: In January 2022, IBM was already shedding a large part of its activities related to AI in health
In its 2022 fiscal year, IBM made $60.5 billion in revenue, including $25 billion for software, $15 for infrastructure, and $19 for consulting. The growth in sales of some 3 billion dollars does not, however, compensate for the growth in expenses (an additional 5 billion), so that the company’s result is in decline.