In the course of the year, there were already indications that the conversion could go deeper than originally planned. In the current quarterly report, SAP speaks of 9000 to 10,000 jobs that will be affected by the restructuring. Most of them would involve volunteer programs and internal retraining measures, it said. According to SAP, the program is to be completed at the beginning of 2025 and cost around €3 billion.
But the conversion leaves clear traces. The satisfaction of SAP employees is declining. Employee engagement was at 86 percent in 2020, and never fell below 80 percent in the years before or since, but now SAP management expects only a value of between 70 and 74 percent for 2024. Last year, 76 to 80 percent had been expected in Walldorf. The software company is a long way from the 2022 target of achieving 84 to 86 percent next year. In the meantime, no concrete figures for 2025 are given in the boardroom. There is only talk of wanting to steadily increase the number.
Cloud business is going well for SAP
Financially, on the other hand, things are going splendidly for SAP. For the third quarter of 2024, the software manufacturer reported revenue of just under €8.5 billion, an increase of ten percent after adjusting for currency effects compared to the same quarter last year. The operating result even improved by 28 percent from just under €1.8 billion to a good €2.2 billion. The bottom line was a profit of over €1.4 billion, compared to €1.3 billion in the previous year.
