Hangzhou, October 13: Hikvision, a Chinese video surveillance technology company, will reportedly cut thousands of jobs due to business pressure under geopolitical and economic headwinds. The US-sanctioned company will reportedly lay off 1,000 employees from its research and development department in China. The CCTV camera maker reportedly denied any Hikvision layoffs and termed them as "adjustments". 

According to a report published by the South China Morning Post, the Hangzhou-based video surveillance camera maker said it was optimising its research workforce and also denied any large-scale layoffs. The company said that the Hikvision layoffs would be a part of the internal adjustment for R&D optimisation at its headquarters. Amazon Layoffs: CEO Andy Jassy Announces To Cut 14,000 Managerial Roles by Early 2025 To Save Up to USD 3 Billion Annually.

The report said that the layoffs will also impact the key cities in China. Hikvision reportedly adjusted some of its regional job settings accordingly. The company termed the Hikvision layoffs as "optimisation" to avoid any public attention, as Chinese law required companies that cut over 10% of their workforce to allow the labour authorities' intervention. 

As of an annual report of 2023, Hikvision's workforce was 58,544, and the "adjustments" likely showed that the CCTV camera maker was going through difficulties related to US sanctions and China's slowed economy. HIkvision was previously alleged by the US government over human rights violations and blocked. 

Hikvision Blacklisted Along With 26 Other Chinese Entities 

The report said that in 2019, the Donald Trump administration included Hikvision, rival Dahua, and 26 other Chinese companies in the US Entity List. These Chinese entities were accused of complicity in human rights abuses of Uygur Muslims. Hikvision and others were blocked from buying components in the United States without getting approval from Washington. However, the company "strongly opposed" the allegations.

In 2022, the US FCC banned Hikvision, Dahua, Huawei Technologies, and other leading Chinese companies from selling equipment in the country without authorisation. The United States government said these companies posed an "unacceptable" risk to national security. Boeing Layoffs: Aviation Giant To Lay Off 17,000 Employees, 10% of Its Workforce in Coming Months To Stay Competitive.

Besides the ban, the Chinese video surveillance agency has been experiencing a difficult period for a few years due to the global economy and politics. Hikvision said that these resulted in deglobalisation, a pandemic of inflation, and regional conflicts. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 13, 2024 02:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).