Xerox will axe thousands of jobs in its 'reinvention' plan
- Xerox plans to cut 15% of its workforce early this year.
- Its new strategy will focus on business services over hardware sales.
Xerox was once a synonym for copying. But those halcyon days are long gone for the office equipment company founded in 1906.
Now the company plans to cut 15% of its workforce in the first three months of this year as part of its "reinvention" plans.
Xerox has about 23,000 staff, according to its annual report, meaning thousands will be let go.
In a statement Wednesday, the company said the move was part of a plan to develop a new operating model, reshape the leadership team and increase efficiencies.
Shares dropped more than a tenth following the announcement, CNBC reported.
Xerox has produced printers and office equipment for more than a century, but has diversified into digital products and business services as the business world moved away from paper documents. It now plans to further scale back its printing offerings.
The pandemic triggered a drop in demand for its products, while cheaper Chinese cartridge-clone makers have dented sales and profits.
Last year, Xerox CEO Steven Bandrowczak told Business Insider that an organization in crisis had to alter its mindset.
"You can either look at these things as opportunities or 'Oh, poor us,'" he said. "We choose to think of them as opportunities."
"We have been so resilient that now we've got a culture of resilience, which means when it gets really stormy out there, we get really calm because we've been through it and we know we can work our way through it," he said. "We also realize what we did yesterday is not good enough for tomorrow."
Xerox remains profitable, posting adjusted net income of $77 million for its third quarter, up from $44 million the previous year.
Xerox did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.