A series of layoffs have hit Samsung’s US operations. In addition to the obvious human dimension of people losing their livelihoods, it highlights a difficult reality for Samsung: While its chip and memory business has become stratospheric, its consumer technology arm is struggling.
A Report from Reuters Samsung confirmed to Reuters that 739 people were laid off in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and about 100 in Plano, according to anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters. Apparently, Samsung told Reuters that most of those who lost their jobs had been given “relocation offers.”
According to Reuters, these are jobs in Samsung’s “display, phone and other consumer electronics operations.” The roles mentioned in the Reuters article are sales and marketing – not the types of blue-collar jobs typically associated in the US. 2019 report from Hankyoreh It revealed a massive anti-union activity by Samsung executives worldwide in what appears to be a matter of global corporate politics. “Even the smallest examples of collective action were met with repression,” the report says.
Earlier this month, Samsung released a report 19 times increase in quarterly profit demand for memory and chips for data center construction flooded Samsung with revenue.
It’s a very different picture in South Korea, where the chip and memory business is concentrated and workers have recently gained leverage. Organized Samsung workers authorized a strike, and in May, under maximum pressure to keep the memory business running smoothly, Samsung agreed to big deals for workers. Bonuses up to $400,000.
The AI boom and rising component prices have been a mixed blessing for Samsung as a whole. This spring, reports show Executives sweated over earnings forecasts marks the company’s first failure to turn a profit in smartphones.
