More than 800 jobs around the world - including 200 in the UK and Ireland - are to be cut by software giant Sage as it takes the latest step in moves to change its business.
The Tyneside company has informed staff of plans to streamline its product and marketing teams into single entities as part of a strategy to simplify the way the company works.
As a result of the changes, chief executive Steve Hare said Sage was planning to cut 200 jobs in the UK and Ireland, 250 in North America and 370 in its international business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
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He said the job losses were a ‘difficult’ decision, and came as part of a long-term plan for the company.
Mr Hare said: “It is my job as CEO to make those decisions, even when they are difficult, to ensure we are successful both in the short and long term. We are announcing today that we will remove some roles across the business so we can further rebalance our investments towards our strategic priorities and simplify the business.
“We will remove approximately 200 roles in the UK and Ireland, 250 roles in North America, 370 roles in our International region across Europe, Middle East and Africa and APAC . We will at the same time create new positions and continue to hire to build the capabilities we need for the future.”
Mr Hare said the job cuts were “not a decision I have taken lightly”, adding that the changes would “enable us to focus our investment and simplify our business in ways that will be transformative for our stakeholders.”
Sage said people put at risk of redundancy would be given opportunities to apply for new roles, but that enhanced redundancy payments would also be made available.
In July, Sage said it had performed “strongly” in the first nine months of the year as revenues grew by 5%.
It has been on a strategy to move customers to subscription and cloud-based services, and over the last year has disposed of a number of businesses while also making acquisitions and investments to boost that strategy.
Sage recently moved its Newcastle headquarters to new offices at the Cobalt Business Park.
