Fujitsu to axe 1,800 UK jobs

Cuts linked to customers moving to cloud, and not Brexit, Japanese company states

Fujitsu is to cut around 1,800 UK-based jobs, more than a tenth of its total UK workforce.

The Japanese company said that the job losses are the result of its transformation programme, which is designed to improve its efficiency and enable it to remain competitive.

The cost-cutting has become necessary as a result of increased cloud usage amongst Fujitsu's traditional customer base, with many firms choosing to consume as-a-service offerings rather than purchase and run their own infrastructure.

The firm will hope that by cutting costs it can afford to lower prices and become more competitive.

Unite has described the cuts as a "hammer blow" to the UK economy. Unite national officer for IT Ian Tonks said:

"This is a hammer blow for these hardworking employees who have given their all to make the UK subsidiary highly profitable.

"It is not good news for the UK economy as the company says that it intends to offshore many of these jobs, with increased automation also responsible for job losses.

"Fujtsu's main UK subsidiary made £85.6m profit last year and we see no reason for these job losses. Unite will be doing its utmost to fight for these jobs, as well as giving our members maximum support at this very worrying time."

Fujitsu has yet to announce which jobs will be lost, or from which of its sites. Its UK offices include London, Belfast, Bracknell, Crewe, Derry, Manchester, Stevenage, Wakefield and Warrington.

It is thought that most of the cuts will happen in 2017, though some may be pushed into the following year.

Here is the company's statement in full:

"Fujitsu is planning a transformation programme that will enable it to better support customers in the era of digital transformation. The company today advised its employee representative forum of plans to restructure the organisation in order to provide better service and respond more quickly to customer needs.

"As part of the programme, Fujitsu plans to streamline operations in order to remain competitive in the market. Proposed measures include changes which would result in a reduction of up to 1,800 jobs in the UK. All affected employees will be offered guidance and support and Fujitsu is establishing a consultation process with elected employee representatives."

Before the referendum on EU membership, Tatsuya Tanaka, Fujitsu's president, warned that Brexit would be a "huge negative" for the firm's UK-based IT business. However, the firm claims that this round of job cuts is unrelated to Britain's decision to leave the EU.

Earlier this month it was reported that Lenovo was in talks to acquire Fujitsu's PC business.