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Sage waves voluntary redundo plan at staff

Software co won't say how many it wants to lose

Software maker Sage is asking its UK staff to consider taking voluntary redundancy in a move to cut costs at the company.

“The changing market we're in means that it is more important than ever to look at the costs we incur as a business and how we can become even more effective in the way we work,” said Sage UK and Ireland managing director Paul Stobart.

“As all businesses are at the moment, we're doing everything that we can to keep costs to a minimum and in addition we've let our people know today that we are offering our UK staff the chance to take voluntary redundancy.”

Stobart added that Sage was offering staff the opportunity to take a pay-off in a move to reduce headcount and slash costs. However, he didn’t reveal what reductions it’s hoping to achieve from the strategy.

The biz software firm, which employs more than 14,000 people globally, has 2,200 staff in Blighty and claims over five million customers worldwide.

The majority of its UK workers are based at the company’s Newcastle Great Park, Gosforth site.

Staff have expressed concern about the swift action Sage has taken to cut costs. One employee told El Reg that the software maker wasn't providing very much detail about the strategy.

"There hasn't been anything concrete confirmed so everyone is unsure," said the source. "It's pretty much a feeling of uncertainty as we haven't had much information."

We asked Sage if it could comment on how many voluntary redundancies it was hoping to achieve, and whether it could be forced to move to compulsory redundancies or some other more severe measure if the vendor failed to hit its target.

However, a spokeswoman declined to respond to our questions. She was able to confirm that the cost-cutting strategy would only be applied to staff based in the UK.

It’s understood the redundancies will take place next month. ®

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