Samsung Electronics will transfer the headquarters of its local subsidiary that handles smartphones, TVs and home appliances in the United States from New Jersey to Texas. In the transfer process, 739 positions at the New Jersey business sites will be cut, and some employees are expected to leave the company.
According to Reuters and others on the 20th, Samsung Electronics America (SEA) recently submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) to New Jersey authorities outlining staffing changes at the Englewood Cliffs business sites. WARN is a system that requires corporations in the United States to give prior notice to State Governments and employees when pursuing mass layoffs or business site closures. SEA handles sales and marketing in the United States for Samsung Electronics' smartphones, TVs and home appliances, excluding the semiconductor business.
Samsung Electronics told Reuters that as it transfers the SEA headquarters from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to Texas by the end of the year, 739 local positions will be affected. About 1,200 people are known to work at the New Jersey business sites.
The company said it offered most affected employees positions in Texas, but some staff ended up leaving the company as the transfer proved difficult or as roles were adjusted based on business priorities. It did not disclose the specific scale of the cuts.
Samsung Electronics views this step not as a simple mass layoff but as a redeployment of personnel and operational adjustments following the headquarters transfer. At the Plano, Texas, business sites, about 100 people, including mobile business staff, were also reportedly notified of layoffs.
SEA opened a new office in New Jersey in September last year. Less than a year later, it decided to move the headquarters to Texas. Texas is home to Samsung Electronics' semiconductor manufacturing facilities and the Plano mobile business hub. Samsung Electronics said it is transferring the headquarters to bring multiple organizations together in one region to strengthen collaboration and to connect with Texas' technology and artificial intelligence (AI) industry ecosystem.
Samsung SDS's U.S. subsidiary also reportedly notified local authorities last month of the potential changes to 179 positions at the Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, business sites in connection with the transfer of its North American headquarters.