A Huawei executive denies reports it plans to lay off 10,000 workers, despite acknowledging the company could have a tough year ahead.
The executive, interviewed by China Daily, denies there has been recent large-scale cutbacks in jobs, but did not rule out the possibility of some reductions in staff numbers in future. The executive was responding to a post by the general manager of Shenzhen Huajing Management Consulting, asserting that Huawei is about to cut 10,000 positions.
Officially, Huawei has dismissed the claims as “nothing but rumors,” but the executive said it is common for companies to reduce staff numbers “when they are faced with adversities.” He said this year could prove to be tough for the vendor, with both the US and the European Commission currently probing the company over security and antitrust concerns respectively.
But the executive said Huawei will try first to improve its performance by cutting costs rather than jobs.
Huawei has been aggressively expanding since 2009, and its headcount climbed from 90,000 in that year to over 146,000 in 2011. But this expansion has put pressure on the company's profitability, and in segments including the company's enterprise business it has failed to result in a commensurate increase in revenue.