TL;DR: They say our numbers are wrong. Wish they'd announce the right ones.
SAS confirms 1 percent cut to workforce in 2023
By Lauren Ohnesorge – Senior Staff Writer, Triangle Business Journal
Jul 15, 2023
Cary analytics firm SAS Institute confirmed layoff reports Friday.
The company, which has said it’s planning an initial public offering in 2024, on Friday said that the “overall impact for 2023 is expected to be approximately 1 percent of our total workforce.”
SAS has around 4,500 employees in the Triangle, according to data compiled by the Triangle Business Journal. Globally, the company has 12,000 workers. That means the layoff count would likely top 100.
“Evolving our organizational structure and aligning the right talent to our core focus areas is always a priority for SAS,” company spokeswoman Shannon Heath said. “We explained earlier this year that as part of our normal business processes, we have been slowly shifting some divisional structures to better align with our corporate priorities.”
In May, SAS confirmed it would be tightening its global operation, a move that would include closing some of its international offices as it shifted its sales strategy.
At the time, Heath described it as a change in the company’s operational model. Instead of the hybrid sales strategy it's deployed in the past – which utilizes both direct sales and channel sales – SAS is transitioning to a "channel-only strategy" in impacted markets, she said.
The $3 billion company has also said it plans to invest another $1 billion in artificial intelligence over the next three years.
As for the latest job cuts, reports online – including those purportedly posted by employees on theLayoff.com – indicated impact in R&D functions. One commenter claimed 200 people were laid off earlier this year. SAS doesn’t comment on what it calls “rumors,” but the spokeswoman said numbers being given on third party sites were not accurate.