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Israeli software giant Amdocs set to lay off 1,000 employees

The company says it is reorganizing global HR due to “complex time of continued uncertainty in global markets.”

By Meir Orbach, Calcalist

The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis is shaking up even the biggest Israeli tech companies, with software giant Amdocs Ltd. set to fire around 1,000 employees, a person with knowledge of the move told Calcalist under the condition of anonymity.

With $691 million of Amdocs’s $1 billion quarterly income coming from U.S. clients and the uncertainty surrounding the financial recovery in the world’s largest economy due to the pandemic, Amdocs is planning to cut many hundreds of jobs, including senior positions.

Amdocs employs 25,000 people worldwide, including 4,500 workers in Israel, most of them in Ra’anana, as well as having offices in Nazareth and Sderot. It is still unknown how many Israeli-based employees will be among those fired.

The company notified its employees in April that due to the financial uncertainty the salary raises planned for July will not be implemented as scheduled and that all of its employees should take 13 days of paid vacation between April and June of this year. A source who spoke to Calcalist at the time said those steps were being taken to help ensure the job security of the employees during this difficult time.

“As a global company we are committed to acting in a level-headed, responsible, and proactive manner,” Amdocs President and CEO, Shuky Sheffer said at the time.

“We were among the first to recognize the magnitude of the coronavirus crisis and acted decisively to protect the health of our employees. Our next steps are an attempt to optimally balance the needs of our employees and their job security during these times with the responsibility of the company to serve its customer base while maintaining financial stability. We decided to initiate these steps in an attempt to prevent future action that would have long-term negative effects on our employees during these uncertain times of the coronavirus crisis.”

Clearly, Amdocs was unsuccessful in preventing that future action, with the company now set to reorganize its workforce amidst the Covid-19 fallout.

“As a global corporation with tens of thousands of employees, Amdocs is continually making the necessary adjustments in its expenses while strategically assessing its workforce and adapting to the changing business needs,” read an Amdocs statement. “This is especially correct at this complex time of continued uncertainty in global markets. Amdocs is continuing to recruit employees in a wide range of sectors in which its activity is growing and investing in its growth engines while taking care of its human capital.”