Insiders say staff at Samsung Electronics have never been so anxious ahead of the annual reshuffle, as a weak smartphone performance and its worst earnings in three years are expected to cost many jobs.<\/p>\n
As is customary for Korean businesses, Samsung is expected to announce its annual personnel changes in early December, a ritual that even in good times means weeks of distracting uncertainty for staff facing promotion, transfer or the sack.<\/p>\n
The last of those options looks more likely after third-quarter operating profit fell by nearly two thirds.<\/p>\n
Squeezed by Chinese rivals like Xiaomi Technology [XTC.UL] at the low end and Apple’s iPhones at the top, Samsung’s share of the smartphone market has also shrunk year-on-year for the last three quarters, leading to speculation that mobile business head J.K. Shin could be on the way out.<\/p>\n
“People are very uneasy; even the senior management are asking around about what might be coming,” said one Samsung employee.<\/p>\n
Samsung declined to comment on potential changes; it often keeps the information secret even from those directly affected until a day or two before the official announcement.<\/p>\n
The Maeil Business Newspaper, a local business daily, recently reported the company could cut 20 percent of executive positions across the board, including 30 percent from its mobile division.<\/p>\n
This year’s appointments will also offer a glimpse of how heir-apparent Jay Y. Lee plans to lead the tech giant. The younger Lee, 46, has been the de-facto decision maker as his father, Samsung Group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, remains hospitalized following a heart attack in May.<\/p>\n
“We talk a lot about which of the senior executives will still be with us,” another Samsung employee told Reuters. “What happens to them will determine how we will need to work.”<\/p>\n
Samsung Electronics, the flagship of what is by far South Korea’s biggest conglomerate, or chaebol, employed nearly 290,000 people in 2013, about a third of them in the firm’s home country.<\/p>\n
While work continues, a third Samsung employee said managers and executives were distracted to the point where rank-and-file staff needed to work overtime and weekends to make sure development for major products stayed on track.<\/p>\n
Samsung Group’s decision to sell its chemical and defense arms to local conglomerate Hanwha Group has further added to the sense of anxiety.<\/p>\n
“Everyone’s just looking around to see what happens,” said a fourth Samsung employee, adding that major strategic initiatives in his business unit were on hold as managers did not know who would be around to see them through.<\/p>\n
“Only after the personnel moves are official will we all be able to get back to work,” he said. “I just hope the fallout won’t be huge.”<\/p>\n
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