Xerox takes axe to 3,000 jobs

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 24 Oct 2008 at 13:47

Xerox plans to cull 5% of its workforce over the next six months, as it looks to save $200 million in annual costs.

The printing giant announced the job losses as part of its third quarter results, which saw net income rise to $258 million, from $254 million a year ago. However, gross margins declined to 39.2% from 40.1%.

The company blamed the results and job losses on a tough economic environment which has seen demand for expensive office equipment fall dramatically.

"To better align our operations with these changes, we're accelerating actions to reduce our cost base and drive operational improvements across the board," says Xerox chief executive Anne Mulcahy in a statement.

As part of this the company plans to take a $400 million charge in the fourth quarter in order to accelerate its cost cutting plans.

Xerox is the latest in a string of company's to slash its staff, with HP dropping 3,378 jobs in the UK and Yahoo cutting loose around 1,500 employees in the last month alone.