The outfit is slashing up to 30 per cent of its overseas staff at some divisions.

It has instructed subsidiaries worldwide to reduce sales and marketing staff by about 15 per cent and the administrative staff by up to 30 per cent.

One person said the plan will be implemented by the end of this year and would impact jobs across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

It is unclear how many people would be laid off and which countries and business units would be most affected. The total number of employees needing to leave the India unit could reach 1,000. Samsung employs some 25,000 people in India.

A South Korean newspaper reported Samsung has notified its staff about the job cuts that are expected to affect about 30 per cent of its employees at its sales operation in China.

Samsung said workforce adjustments conducted at some overseas operations were routine and aimed at improving efficiency. It said the plans have no targets and that they are not impacting its production staff.

According to its latest sustainability report, Samsung employed 267,800 people as of the end of 2023, and more than half, or 147,000 employees, are based overseas.

The report said manufacturing and development accounted for most of those jobs, and sales and marketing staff was around 25,100, while 27,800 people worked in other areas.

The "global mandate" on job cuts was sent about three weeks ago, and one of the direct sources said Samsung's India operation was already offering severance packages to some mid-level employees who had left recently.

The job cuts come as Samsung grapples with mounting pressure on its key units and falling profits at a 15-year low last year.

In May, Samsung replaced the head of its semiconductor division to overcome a "chip crisis" as it sought to catch up with smaller rival SK Hynix, which supplies high-end memory chips used in artificial intelligence chips.