After a short cooling period, the wave of layoffs in the technology industry in general and “Big Tech” in particular seems to be showing signs of returning. Samsung Electronics is likely to be the next name to join the list of major technology companies cutting their workforce in 2024.
According to a report from Reuters, through anonymous sources, Samsung will lay off a large number of sales and marketing staff worldwide, possibly up to 15% of the total number of employees working in these areas of operation. Not stopping there, the Korean technology giant is also said to cut up to 30% of administrative staff working at the company's headquarters worldwide.
Sources also revealed that the layoffs will begin in late 2024 in regions such as the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Currently, there is no specific information on the number of Samsung employees who will be affected by this wave of layoffs.
Samsung said the “staffing adjustments” were a normal part of its operations, adding that there were no specific business objectives behind the “adjustments” and that they would not affect any of Samsung’s production plans.

Reuters reported that as of the end of 2023, South Korea's largest technology group had 267,800 employees worldwide, of which 147,000 were working overseas. Samsung's sales and marketing staff numbered 25,100, and 27,800 were working in areas other than manufacturing and production.
Samsung said the restructuring of its workforce in some areas is a routine activity aimed at improving efficiency. The company did not specify how many jobs it would cut, but said its manufacturing division would not be affected.
Since the beginning of the year, news of layoffs has been continuously recorded from industry giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, eBay, Microsoft... to cut costs and increase profits. According to the layoff tracking website Layoffs.fyi, in January 2024, more than 21,000 employees at 76 technology companies lost their jobs.