Xerox Prints Pink Slips For 15% Of Workforce

2024 isn't starting off that well for Xerox: first it said it suffered an IT security breach, and now it's laying off 15 percent of staff.

Xerox confirmed to The Register that its planned workforce reduction will take place sometime in the first quarter of 2024. As for specifics, the US corporation only told us cuts would come "across all levels and areas of our organization," so watch out for that pink slip no matter where you work. Happy New Year.

"The decision to reduce our global workforce was a difficult but necessary step toward establishing long-term viability for Xerox," a spokesperson told us. "Xerox is committed to providing transition support for affected employees."

In announcing the cutbacks today, the biz said these layoffs are part of the "reinvention" plans teased in the company's third-quarter earnings report that, per CEO Steven Bandrowczak, were necessary to keep the Silicon Valley stalwart moving forward. 

"Our new operating model is a significant step towards accomplishing the goals we seek to achieve with our Reinvention," said Bandrowczak, adding that Xerox's new structure would focus on three areas: the core print business, a new global business services arm, and an IT and digital services branch. 

"The shift to a business unit operating model is a continuation of our client-focused, balanced execution priorities and is designed to accelerate product and services, go-to-market, and corporate functions' operating efficiencies across all geographies we serve," Bandrowczak opined. 

As part of its new three-unit business operating model, around 3,000 people will lose their jobs based on Xerox's most recent reported [PDF] headcount of around 20,500 souls.

Along with losses among the rank and file, the Xerox leadership team is being shaken up too, with Xerox Americas president Joanne Collins Smee and Chief Product Officer Tracey Koziol both departing the outfit. 

We note that the division breached by miscreants late last year, Xerox Business Solutions, is a US-based subsidiary, but it's not clear if Smee's exit is in any way related to the incident, which may have exposed "limited personal information," according to Xerox. 

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Other members of the executive team have been shuffled around too, with President and COO John Bruno being appointed to "lead the enterprise alignment of print, digital services and IT." Louie Pastor, former head of Xerox legal who left the company in April, is returning as Chief Transformation and Administrative Officer, and long-time Xerox lawyer Flor Colon is assuming control of Xerox's legal team. 

Bandrowczak appears safe in the CEO role he assumed in 2022, after Xerox stock tanked with the onset of the pandemic and large-scale shifts to remote work that contributed to its failure in a hostile takeover of HP. The copier biz has struggled to reinvent itself since, something it was arguably rather good at once.

"Congratulations to our new executive leadership team, and my sincere thanks to Joanne and Tracey for their countless contributions to our company and culture," the Xerox CEO said. ®