Samsung Layoffs: Up to 30% of overseas staff cut amid global challenges

What’s Happening at Samsung?

Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading producer of smartphones, TVs, and memory chips, is preparing to reduce its global workforce, impacting up to 30% of its staff in certain divisions, according to multiple sources who spoke to Reuters.

The layoffs will primarily affect sales, marketing, and administrative roles, with cuts expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Key Details

• Scope of Layoffs: Up to 30% of administrative staff and 15% of sales and marketing employees across Samsung’s global operations, impacting regions including the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This number likely includes Canadian staff that were terminated earlier this year.
• India and China Impact: In India, up to 1,000 employees could be affected, while China is expected to see a 30% reduction in its sales staff. Samsung employs around 25,000 people in India.
• Company Statement: Samsung stated that these adjustments are routine measures aimed at improving efficiency and clarified that production staff will not be affected. The company also noted that there are no specific job cut targets.
• Workforce Overview: Samsung employed 267,800 people by the end of 2023, with 147,000 based overseas. Around 25,100 employees work in sales and marketing globally.

Challenges Driving the Layoffs

Samsung is currently grappling with multiple challenges across its core business sectors:

• Semiconductor Struggles: The chip division has been slow to recover from an industry downturn that severely impacted profits.
• Smartphone Market Pressure: Samsung faces stiff competition from Apple and Huawei in the premium smartphone market, further intensifying the need for cost-saving measures.
• Indian Market Disruptions: A strike over wages in India has disrupted production, adding to the company’s operational challenges in one of its key markets, which generates $12 billion in annual revenue.

Layoffs in Canada

It remains unclear exactly how many Samsung employees in Canada will lose their job as a result of these layoffs.

Your Rights

In Canada, non-unionized employees at Samsung are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing, corporate restructuring, or the closure of the business.

This applies to individuals working in any capacity — full-time, part-time, hourly, or potentially even independent contractors — in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Severance is the compensation provided to non-unionized workers in Canada by their employer when they are terminated without cause, and can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains why you are still owed severance if you have been downsized on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Severance offers and deadlines

Before accepting a severance offer, double-check the amount using our firm’s free Severance Pay Calculator. It has helped millions of Canadians determine their entitlements.

In addition to your salary, make sure to factor in any other elements of your compensation (i.e. bonuses, commission, etc.).

If your employer’s offer falls short of what our Severance Pay Calculator says you are owed, it’s very likely that you have been wrongfully dismissed and should contact an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

Non-unionized employees in Canada have up to two years from the date of their dismissal to pursue proper severance pay. An employer’s deadline to sign back a severance offer is not legally enforceable or binding.

LEARN MORE
• Severance pay for provincially regulated employees
• Rights to severance during mass layoffs
• Severance entitlements in a recession

Major layoffs continue

The job cuts come amid a flurry of layoffs in 2024.

Big names, including Wells Fargo, Intuit, Goldman Sachs, UiPath, Dyson, Vancity, Stifel, SAP Canada, Netflix, AmDocs, EXL Service, Best Buy, Relic Entertainment, Ubisoft, Intel, Amazon, and Telus, have pulled out the axe as they continue to navigate challenging economic conditions.

SEE ALSO
• Shell to lay off 20% of deals division, part of restructuring
• Walmart Canada cuts jobs amid restructuring, shift to Spark: Reports
• Where are layoffs happening in Canada?

Lost your job? Talk to an employment lawyer

If you have been fired or let go for any reason, contact the experienced employment law team at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

Our lawyers in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. have successfully represented tens of thousands of non-unionized individuals.

In addition to severance package negotiations, we can assist you on a broad range of employment matters, including:

If you are a non-unionized employee who needs help with a workplace issue, contact us or call 1-855-821-5900 to get the advice you need and the compensation you deserve.

Disclaimer: The materials above are provided as general information about the rights of non-unionized employees in Canada. It is not specific to any one company and should not be read as suggesting any improper conduct on the part of any specific employer, or a relationship between Samfiru Tumarkin LLP and a specific employer.