Fujitsu said that it aims to cut 1,800 jobs in the U.K.
Japanese IT equipment and services company Fujitsu has plans to cut nearly 1,800 jobs from its U.K. operation in a move to improve margins, international press reported, citing the firm’s chair for the U.K. and Ireland Michael Keegan.
According to reports, nearly 2,000 employees in the United Kingdom have received letters stating their jobs were at risk.
Keegan said the company was planning to cut a total of 3,300 jobs across the European operation, and Fujitsu expects to re-employ 1,200 people for several roles including those related to the “internet of things,” digital and security.
“The truth is that the IT market is massively being transformed. We are moving to new skills and new businesses, while old businesses are in decline,” the executive reportedly said. “What we know about Fujitsu is our return on shareholders is running at approximately half the rate of our competitors, so we are not as profitable as other companies. … I think the investor community has seen our announcements and seen the stock price going up. And I think a lot of analysts have said Fujitsu is taking the right action. Action that companies like [Hewlett-Packard] and Cisco have taken.”
Keegan said it was not possible at this time to say if additional layoffs were planned. Fujitsu currently has 156,000 employees and operates in more than 100 countries.
Fujitsu makes available its Cloud IoT Platform in EMEA and India
Fujitsu also announced its Cloud Internet of Things Platform is available in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. The platform is part of its Cloud Service K5 ecosystem.
Fujitsu said the offering is designed to eliminate the complexity of traditional IoT deployments and makes business intelligence data easily accessible. Company reps said the platform-as-a-service-based solution is customizable and scalable, and integrates sensor data into mainstream production.