Samsung has been working to streamline its workforce and that's not a small feat if you're a multi-national conglomerate that employees hundreds of thousands of people. According to the company's latest sustainability report, it has cut thousands of jobs in Europe, China, and Latin America. On the other hand, the number of employees in Southeast Asia and Japan increased substantially, particularly in Southeast Asia, where the company's product plants are based.
The report reveals that 325,677 were employed by Samsung globally in 2015 which is a slight increase from the 319,208 people it employed in 2014. Employee numbers have increased over the past year in Japan and Southeast Asia with an additional 28,000 people joining the company to take the combined figure to 140,437.
Samsung made the first reduction at its HQ in Korea since the 2008 financial crisis as it let 2,500 people go. More than 3,000 jobs were cut in Latin America and Europe combined over the past year. The biggest cut was made in China where 12,000 employees were let go. Samsung had more than 60,000 employees in China alone up until 2013 when it was the dominant player in the world's most lucrative market. The job cuts follow Samsung's third consecutive year of sales decline in China.
