Ricoh slims down Aussie workforce

Print vendor turned IT services provider, Ricoh has cut an undisclosed number of jobs from its Australian workforce in a move that has seen the company say goodbye to at least six people from its IT services business ranks, according to sources.

ARN sources indicate that the majority of the cuts came from Ricoh’s print business.

Of the IT services staff which have been let go, ARN understands that all are in operations.

Our sources said Ricoh Australia told staff that the redundancies were due to a business decision to ensure the ongoing health of the company, and that it had held out on making the cuts as long as it could despite tough market conditions.

However, the company financials show that it made a profit of $5,432,000 in 2016, compared to a loss of $568,000 the previous year.

“As organisations rely more on the convenience of digital documents and integrated workflows, Ricoh is adapting its traditional business by expanding its IT services, including recent acquisitions that have brought specialised capabilities to Ricoh,” the company said in a statement to ARN.

“As a result, the structure and skill sets required within the business have changed and we are adjusting our workforce in line with these changes.

“We will continue to communicate openly with our customers and staff as we expand our IT and workplace technology services capability to create growth opportunities into the future."

The company has made a number of acquisitions in recent years to bolster its IT business.

Former employees who wished not to be named said the integrations of these businesses into Ricoh Australia has caused considerable internal friction and inefficiencies.

Ricoh built much of its IT services business through acquisition. The most prominent of these was the purchase of IMC Communications in 2012 which saw current head of the division, Matt Dixon, join the company.

In February, Dixon said the company would be focusing heavily on IT services in 2016.

“We want to simplify the technology experience for our partners, so the capabilities Ricoh is now bringing to the table is also around IT services," he said at the time.

"This is an important diversification strategy for Ricoh here in Australia and globally."