Bloomberg reported a regular survey of SAP staff found morale among its domestic workers had plummeted since they were last quizzed in late 2023, with a restructure announced in January cited as a primary factor.

The survey was conducted in June and found 51 per cent of the software company’s 16,500 eligible employees were willing to accept a similar position with a competitor and a near 40 per cent drop in the number which fully trust the board.

Bloomberg reported the results were presented during a meeting of a works council representing German staff yesterday (26 September). It did not provide comparative figures from the last survey, conducted in October 2023.

The news outlet stated 15 per cent of the staff quizzed believed rejigs had improved working conditions since June 2023, with 70 per cent bullish about SAP’s plan to up its use of AI, albeit this was 2 percentage points lower than the previous survey.

A SAP representative told Mobile World Live the survey also found approval ratings about the company’s strategy and employees’ sense of pride exceed 80 per cent.

“The survey, which is deliberately designed to elicit employees’ feedback on both the areas where the company is thriving and where it can improve, also showed employee engagement and trust in the board as areas for improvement,” the representative said.

“We take this feedback very seriously and are actively taking steps to address employees’ responses.”

SAP CEO Christian Klein announced a restructuring plan in January as part of an effort to blend AI into the company’s software to better serve its enterprise customers.

He initially stated the restructuring could lead to 8,000 employees being cut or retrained, but later amended the number to between 9,000 and 10,000.

There has been some upheaval since the survey, with CMO Julia White and CRO Scott Russell leaving SAP’s executive board in July and CTO Juergen Mueller set to depart and face an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment.

Additionally, the US Department of Justice is examining price-fixing claims over government contracts.