Shrinking global smartphone market share and its worst earnings in the past three years have sparked anxieties of layoffs among employees at Samsung, especially as the annual reshuffle nears. Samsung follows the Korean business custom of reorganising its human resources in early December. Insiders reveal that even in better times Samsung staff dreaded the month of December as most promotions, transfers and sackings are announced during this period. Thanks to fierce competition from Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi and arch-rival Apple, Samsung’s market share has significantly shrunk and its third-quarter profits fell by almost 74 percent. Speculations suggest that the Korean firm’s weak growth might lead to some big changes in its senior management, including the possible sacking of mobile business head J.K. Shin. Samsung is South Korea's biggest conglomerate, or chaebol. It employed over 290,000 people in 2013, and about a third of them in their home country.
According to a local newspaper report, Samsung could downsize its executive board positions by 20 percent, including 30 percent from its mobile division. A Samsung employee said, “People are very uneasy; even the senior management are asking around about what might be coming.” Another employee said, “We talk a lot about which of the senior executives will still be with us. What happens to them will determine how we will need to work.” Samsung has declined to comment on the matter and it usually doesn't reveal such matters, even to those who will be directly affected until a day or two before the announcements happen.
