Xerox to Cut 2,500 Jobs

In a cost-cutting move aimed at saving $200 million a year, Xerox Corp. said on Jan. 21 it plans to cut some 2,500 jobs, or 5% of its workforce.

Xerox, which had 53,600 employees at the end of December, has already slashed 3,500 jobs starting in late 2008.

The latest job cuts were announced by Xerox chief executive Ursula Burns who said that some of the job losses would come in Europe but did not give a figure.

She said the restructuring would cost $280 million this year with $30 million related to Xerox's $6.4 billion acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services, the world's largest diversified business outsourcing firm.

Burns said she expected the ACS acquisition to close next month. "Once completed, Xerox will be the world leader in business process and document management," she said.

In the fourth quarter net profit rose to $180 million from one million dollars in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Revenue declined by 3% to $4.22 billion, better than the $3.92 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.

"We delivered a strong close to a difficult year, with solid operational results that reflect our disciplined approach to generating cash and reducing costs," Burns said. "During the fourth quarter, we saw signs of improvement in several areas including developing markets, and we remain quite confident in our strong global competitive position," she said.

"However, we believe revenue will continue to be under pressure until there is a more sustainable economic recovery," she added."To help offset this challenge, we remain focused on cost and expense management and sizing our business to better match current revenue levels."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010