Xerox to slash 15% of workforce in bloodbath that will eliminate 3,000 jobs

Xerox, the IT corporation behind ubiquitous office equipment like scanners and printers, is laying off 15% of its workforce as part of a so-called “reinvention” strategy.

Per Xerox’s website, it had roughly 20,000 employees as of October 2023, meaning the cut would affect some 3,000 positions.

The bloodbath is part of a larger restructuring that will see the Norwalk, Conn.-based company adopting a new operating model and organizational structure aimed at boosting its core print business, according to CBS News.

It will also form a new business services unit and execute an executive shuffle that will see president and chief operating officer John Bruno leading the enterprise alignment of the company’s print, digital services and tech services business.

And Louis Pastor, Xerox’s chief transformation officer, will oversee the new global business services organization, per CBS.

The company’s longtime in-house counsel, Flor Colon, will also be promoted to chief legal officer.

Xerox CEO Steven Bandrowczak referred to the overhaul as “reinvention” in a statement to CBS that said the strategic pivot will enhance the company’s ability to efficiently bring products and services to market.

Following the news, Xerox’s share price tumbled nearly 10%, to $16.26, as of Wednesday afternoon.

The workplace and digital printing solutions company’s revamp comes at a time when its growth has stalled — though it’s managed to turn a profit in recent years, including in 2022, when the company generated $7.1 billion in revenue.

In 2021, Xerox raked in $7.06 billion, slightly more than the $7.02 billion it made in 2020, the same year it abandoned its $35 billion attempt at a hostile takeover of larger rival HP because of the pandemic.

Representatives for Xerox did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Xerox’s hefty layoff comes at a time when it’s getting increasingly harder to find a job.

Data from employment website Indeed found that job postings on the site were down more than 15% in 2023 compared to recent years.

Indeeds Job Posting Index, which tracked job postings as of early November 2023, showed an even bleaker drop of 22.5% from their Dec. 31, 2021, peak following a post-COVID hiring frenzy.

For reference, at the start of 2022, job postings on Indeed had skyrocketed nearly 70% from the year prior.

Separately on Wednesday, the Labor Department said job openings at US employers reached their lowest levels since early 2021, as did the number of people quitting their jobs a signal of shaky confidence in the job market.