In a statement released yesterday (3 January), the manufacturer said that proposed reductions would be subject to formal consultation with local works councils and employee representative bodies where applicable and that Xerox was “committed to providing transition support for affected employees”.

New York Post said that, as of October 2023, the business employed 20,000 people, meaning the cuts could affect around 3,000 roles.

“By implementing this new operating model, the company will take action this quarter, targeting a 15% workforce reduction,” Xerox’s statement said.

CEO Steven Bandrowczak commented: “The evolution of Xerox’s Reinvention aligns our resources in three key areas – improvement and stabilisation of our core print business, increased productivity and efficiency through the formation of a new Global Business Services organisation, and disciplined execution in revenue diversification.

“The shift to a business unit operating model is a continuation of our client-focused, balanced execution priorities and is designed to accelerate product and services, go-to-market, and corporate functions’ operating efficiencies across all geographies we serve.”

For its core print business, Xerox said it wants to simplify its core products to align “with the needs of economic buyers of today’s hybrid workplace”. It also wants to increase investment in a partner-enabled go-to-market model “that supports how clients prefer to procure their print solutions”.

With its partners, Xerox said it is aiming to pursue strategic market share gains by increasing reach, improving cost to serve, and enhancing profitability.

The company said the Global Business Services unit will see it – through simplification – driving enterprise-wide efficiency and scalability “with centrally coordinated internal processes leveraging shared capabilities and platforms”.

The business also wants to garner operating leverage and investment capacity for its growth segments through lower transaction costs, and improve quality for all business units and functions “while focusing on continuous improvement of clients’ and employees’ experiences”.

In the third area, IT and Digital Services, Xerox said it aims to create greater organisational focus on its emerging capabilities in these areas to accelerate revenue diversification toward markets with higher growth and profitability profiles.

It also wants to implement a new multi-segment organisational focus to drive internal alignment and incremental services penetration with existing and prospective clients.

Xerox has accordingly redesigned and realigned its executive team to support the new operating model. As part of the new executive leadership team, John Bruno, as president and chief operating officer, will lead the enterprise alignment of the Print, Digital Services, and IT Services businesses.

Louie Pastor has returned to Xerox as chief transformation and administrative officer, responsible for overseeing the Xerox Reinvention and the new Global Business Services organisation. Flor Colon has been appointed chief legal officer and corporate secretary. All appointments are effective immediately.

Joanne Collins Smee, executive vice president and president, Americas; and Tracey Koziol, executive vice president of Global Offering Solutions and chief product officer, have departed the company as of 31 December 2023.

Bandrowczak thanked both “for their countless contributions to our company and culture”.

He added: “Our new operating model is a significant step towards accomplishing the goals we seek to achieve with our Reinvention.”

Separately, Xerox’s subsidiary, Xerox Business Solutions, recently experienced a security incident which was detected and contained by Xerox cybersecurity personnel.

In a statement, the manufacturer said: “The event was limited to XBS U.S. We are actively working with third-party cybersecurity experts to conduct a thorough investigation into this incident and are taking necessary steps to further secure the XBS IT environment.

“The incident had no impact on Xerox’s corporate systems, operations or data, and no effect on XBS operations. However, our preliminary investigation indicates that limited personal information in the XBS environment may have been affected.

“As per our policy and standard operating procedure, we will notify all affected individuals as required. The data privacy and protection of our clients, partners, and employees are our highest priority.”

Technology news website The Register has reported that the incident happened after ransomware group INC Ransom claimed to have exfiltrated data from Xerox.

In November, Xerox entered into a first lien term loan credit agreement for $550m (£434m), following its purchase of all of activist investor Carl Icahn's shares in the company.

The company's share price has fallen by 13.85% in the last five days, and stood at $15.98 at yesterday's close (52-week high: $18.90, low: $12.10).