SAP to make over 2,000 global job cuts

Software vendor to cut roughly three per cent of global work force as it focuses growth on cloud

SAP has revealed it is set to cut approximately three per cent of its 75,000-strong global workforce.

There will be roughly 2,250 SAP job cuts, according to Reuters, which yesterday interviewed personnel chief Stefan Ries.

"It's not about cost savings, but rather being fit for the future," Ries said in the interview.

The news of the job cuts follows on from SAP's announcement last May that it was going to cut between 1,500 to 2,500 jobs.

A representative for the German software vendor said that the job cuts would be spread across all of the countries which SAP works in and would not be focused on any particular region.

"It's not about downsizing, it's about focusing better on growth, and that's why we have these programmes going on," the representative said. "This growth is going to come more through the cloud in 2015."

He added that voluntary severance and early retirement packages will be offered to certain SAP staff. Reports indicate that Germany, France, the US, and the UK will be offering workers early retirement. He said that the firm still wants to hire new people and by the end of 2015 it wants to have more employees than it did at the beginning of the year.

Reuters reported that SAP will attempt to find positions in other growing parts of the company for those affected the changes.