SAP Employee Trust Reduces as AI & Cloud Restructuring Booms

German software giant SAP SE is grappling with a steep decline in employee trust, an unexpected internal fallout from its aggressive, multi-billion dollar strategic pivot toward cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Recent internal surveys reveal that confidence in the Executive Board has fallen significantly, highlighting a growing tension between market-driven strategic imperatives and internal organizational morale.

Trust in the executive board has dropped to 59%, a sharp decline from levels that regularly exceeded 80% in 2021.

The internal “Unfiltered Pulse” survey, conducted recently among staff, underscores how the rapid pace of change and the scale of the restructuring program have landed poorly with the workforce.

The company’s head of human resources acknowledged in an internal memo that staff sentiment has taken a noticeable hit amid the transitions.

SAP Restructuring Fuels Unease

The drop in morale is directly attributed to the company-wide restructuring program announced in January, which was initially expected to affect around 8,000 roles.

This estimate was later revised upwards to impact between 9,000 and 10,000 positions globally, representing up to 7% of SAP’s total headcount.

The restructuring, designed to blend AI into SAP’s software portfolio and accelerate growth in cloud-based offerings, involves a mix of voluntary leave programs, job changes, and internal reskilling initiatives.

While the company maintains it expects to end the year with a similar headcount, the uncertainty surrounding which roles are safe, and the disruption to ongoing projects—such as S/4HANA migrations—has created significant anxiety.

A separate survey of German domestic workers found that over 51% were willing to accept a similar position with a competitor, suggesting a profound willingness to seek stability elsewhere.

Investor Focus vs. Internal Morale

The internal turbulence stands in stark contrast to the company’s performance on the financial markets.

SAP’s stock price has remained robust, with investors seemingly focused on the long-term strategic benefits of the cloud and AI transformation rather than short-term morale issues.

While internal confidence in the company’s overall strategy remains relatively high at around 70%, the significant erosion of trust in the leadership responsible for executing that strategy points to failures in communication and implementation.

SAP’s struggles reflect a growing trend across Big Tech, where firms like Meta and Google have also faced staff pushback and trust issues following major strategic pivots and job cuts.

For SAP, a company historically known for its steady leadership, balancing the demands of rapid innovation with organizational stability remains its central leadership challenge.

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