Staff at China's Huawei Technologies are bracing for possible jobs cuts after internal memos highlighted intense pressure to improve earnings and an executive said the flagship smartphone business had missed internal profit targets.

Huawei, which rose rapidly to become the world's third-largest smartphone maker, is aiming to narrow the gap with leaders Apple and Samsung Electronics. But the company faces challenges after losing its top spot in China, the world's biggest market, to new contender Oppo last year.

Huawei's mobile unit missed an internal profit target for 2016 even though revenues exceeded targets, Richard Yu, head of its consumer business division that includes mobile device operation, told Reuters in an interview at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress this week.

"It is still profitable but the profit margin is very low," Yu said of the unit that contributes around one third to the group's revenue.

In an internal memo sent last Friday, Huawei Group founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei urged all employees to work hard, saying the company would otherwise "fall apart."

"Thirty-something strong men, don't work hard, just want to count money in bed, is that possible?," Ren said in the memo seen by Reuters. "Huawei will not pay for those that don’t work hard."

The remarks have unnerved some of Huawei's 170,000-strong workforce, 45% of which are in research and development, a division said by Huawei staff in online communities to be most insecure.

"Everybody is nervous," said a 36-year old engineer in Huawei’s consumer business unit who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"We are now all thinking more of the next steps, realizing permanent employment with the company is no longer a given."

According to company insiders, Huawei maintained its 5% annual quota to eliminate the worst performers, but was seen indirectly pushing underperformers out by asking them to relocate to undesirable posts.

"Huawei does not have layoff plan," the company said in an emailed response, declining further comment.

STREAMLINING

Consumer business chief Yu said in his New Year's address to staff that the company needed to adhere to a "streamline strategy" in personnel as well as product portfolio as it must make profitability its focus in 2017.

"We will seek to improve efficiency and profitability by focusing on organizations at all levels, every employee, and every detail, and strictly control costs and risks to ensure sound development, " Yu said in the memo, seen by Reuters.

"We will not tolerate low-performing managers, and prioritize removal of managers who fail to make noteworthy improvements after working in a position for several years."

Huawei made a net profit of $5.69 billion in 2015.

In another sign of profit pressure at Huawei, which is unlisted and collectively owned by some 80,000 employees, the company cut its dividend to 1.53 yuan per share in 2016 from 1.98 yuan a year earlier, according to a shareholder source.

Huawei splashed out on international marketing campaigns last year, getting footballer Lionel Messi and Hollywood stars Scarlett Johannson and Henry Cavill as brand ambassadors.

But analysts said the spending did not win it as much market share as expected, as rivals piled in to fill a gap in the market left by Samsung after a costly recall of its flagship Note 7 smartphone in October.

"In marketing, we will control our budget," Yu told Reuters. "We are not spending too much on marketing and branding. We invest more money on technology and innovation, and in retail and services."

Huawei, whose main business is telecom equipment and services, said in December it expects 2016 revenue to rise 32% to $74.8 billion. It is due to release full results on March 31.

The company aims to catch up with Apple's service and Oppo's profit margin in three years, according to another memo sent last Friday by Ren.

Yet analysts expect tough year ahead as competition heats up. "We don’t expect Huawei will easily regain No. 1 position in 2017 in China market, mainly due to less-developed distribution channel in low tier cities and rural areas," said Strategy Analytics analyst Linda Sui.

中国公司华为的员工近期正为被裁员而感到担心，据该企业的一份内部备忘录显示，公司正面临着巨大的利润增长压力。一位华为高管表示，作为公司旗舰业务的智能手机业务，并没有达成自身的利润目标。

华为，作为一家近年来迅速成长并跻身成为世界第三大智能手机制造商的公司，以缩小与行业巨头苹果和三星之间的差距为目标而努力。但华为正在面临着巨大的挑战，去年，Oppo击败华为，成为中国这一全球最大市场上所占份额最大的智能手机制造商。

尽管2016年华为的收入超过其预期目标，但这并没有达到华为移动部门自身的利润目标。本周，在巴塞罗那召开的世界移动通信大会（Mobile World Congress）上，华为消费者业务部门（包括移动设备运营）CEO余承东接受了路透社的采访。

余承东在采访中表示，华为移动部门的营收约占到华为总营收的1/3左右，“移动部门仍在盈利，但利润率非常低。”

上周五，华为CEO任正非在内部信中鞭策所有员工努力工作，否则公司将面临解体的风险。

任正非在内部信中表示，“三十多岁的青壮年，不努力工作，只想着躺在床上数钱，这可能吗？华为不会为不努力工作的人支付工资。”

任正非这一言论令华为17万员工中的部分人不安，他们中约有45%来自于产品研发部门，华为员工曾在线上社交媒体中表示，这个部门的员工最缺乏安全感。

一名36岁的华为消费者业务部工程师表示，“每个人都很紧张。”由于话题的敏感性，他并没有透露详细的身份信息。

“我们都在为下一步做更多的打算，我们也都意识到了得到一份长期合同已经不太可能了。”

华为内部人士表示，公司每年的淘汰率一直维持在5%，除此之外，那些表现不够优秀的员工会被调到公司其他非重要岗位。

该公司在回复电邮中表示，“华为目前并没有裁员计划。”也并未就此事发表进一步回应。

精兵简政

在今年的新年致辞中，华为消费者业务部门CEO余承东表示，公司要实行“精兵简政”战略，公司2017年的要以盈利作为最主要的目标。

余承东在内部信中表示，“华为将通过各层面组织架构、人员和细节的调整来提高效率和盈利能力。公司将严格控制成本和风险以确保健康平稳的发展。”

“我们将不再容忍那些低效率的管理人员，在某一职位工作多年却没有显著提高的员工将成为优先裁员对象。”

2015年华为净利润为56.9亿美元。

华为目前正面临着上市的压力，公司股权分散掌握在8万多名员工手中，华为一位股东表示，2016年华为的每股分红从1.98元降至1.53元。

去年，华为开始打响国际市场争夺战，通过足球运动员梅西、好莱坞影星斯嘉丽•约翰逊和亨利•卡维尔代言，进一步提高华为在国际市场上的知名度。

但分析人士指出，华为的巨大投入并未换来预期结果。去年三星Note7手机电池事件曝光后，华为的竞争对手们迅速瓜分了这部分市场份额。

余承东对路透社表示，“在市场营销这一领域，我们将控制预算。我们不会在营销和品牌上有过多的投入，而是在技术、创新、零售和服务上有更多的投入。”

华为的主营业务是电信设备和服务，去年12月，华为称2016年盈利同比增长32%，达到748亿美元，华为将在3月31日披露完整财报。

任正非在上周五的内部信中表示，华为的目标是在三年内赶超苹果的服务和Oppo的利润率。

但分析人士认为，随着行业竞争加剧，华为将面临更为艰难的一年。Strategy Analytics 的分析师琳达•隋表示，“我们并不认为华为会在2017年轻易地夺回中国市场，主要是因为华为在三四线城市和农村地区的覆盖率太低。”（财富中文网）

译者：于悦