Japanese IT group Fujitsu is cutting 1,200 jobs, almost 10% of its UK workforce, as the recession has caused corporate clients and public bodies to cut budgets to conserve cash. .
The company, which has a number of contracts with government departments including the Ministry of Defence, employs 12,500 people in more than two dozen offices including its corporate headquarters in London. The losses are expected to be spread across the country. Its largest office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, which has 1,240 staff, with 750 people based in Manchester and 670 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
"Fujitsu has proposed this measure reluctantly," the company said in a statement. "However, action is necessary to ensure that the company remains competitive in the current difficult global economic climate and is in a solid position for future growth when the economy starts to recover."
Unite, the largest union in Britain, condemned the proposed redundancies as "wholly unwarranted". National officer Peter Skyte said: "Unite is pressing for detailed information about the reasons for this proposal and the areas affected. We will be doing everything possible to protect the jobs of the workforce."
Fujitsu UK, which recorded annual revenues of more than £2bn last year, had already introduced a company-wide pay freeze and slashed the number of contractors it uses to save costs.
A spokesman said the move was not connected with the loss of any particular piece of business, but the company had suffered some setbacks over the year. It looks likely to lose work with BT as the telecoms company recently appointed a joint venture between services group Carillion and Telent as its sole network outsourcing partner. Fujitsu has been servicing the network in several parts of the country.
Last year the company was ejected from the multibillion pound renovation of the NHS computer system – the largest non-military computer project on record – as it lost its £896m contract to run hospital IT upgrades in the south of England. That business was picked up by BT.
The company, which is also a shareholder in the National Lottery operator Camelot, is currently part of a consortium chasing a £1bn 10-year contract to run the armed forces' recruitment services IT.
