SAP plans a restructure that could see hundreds of employees laid off

SAP is planning a restructure that will shift approximately 2,500 roles from software programming to cloud computing. The German software giant will require fewer onsite staff as it moves its software programs to the cloud. A spokesman for the company said the cuts will be reflected across regions and across departments. He said it is immediately unclear how many SAP employees will be retained as part of the restructure, though he said all current employees are encouraged to apply for new cloud-focused positions as they become available.

SAP AG’s shift to providing cloud-based software will prompt a staff shake-up this year, with some employees laid off as others are redeployed, although overall staff numbers should grow, the German business software maker said Wednesday. Jobs will be at SAP’s traditional business that provides software installed on computers. However, it will need more staff for its Internet-based applications, said spokesman Christoph Liedtke. “There won’t be mass layoffs,” he said. SAP has roughly 67,000 employees. The proportion of SAP customers who access applications for accounting and employee-management through Web browsers is rising as cloud versions require less maintenance work than traditional software. SAP wants to become the world’s largest vendor of cloud applications for enterprises and overtake Salesforce.com Inc.