Reuters affirms Thailand commitment despite layoffs

Vichitra Sophon, head of human resources at Thomson Reuters Thailand, said the local unit was rotating resources to serve a dynamic environment. The company last month laid off 40 quality assurance staff out of its 1,400 employees. She said job rotations were considered normal for global firms but acknowledged that layoffs of a particular group were significant for the company. The company's focus on technology to improve software would result in a reduced need for quality assurance staff in the future. It would also focus on automated quality assurance.

“We have several development centres globally. Each location has its own expertise from different countries including specialists from the Philippines responsible for content, Indian experts on accounting and Thai experts for financial systems,” Vichitra said.

Thomson Reuters Thailand has two business units: Thomson Reuters operating intelligent information with 200 employees, and Reuters Software (Thailand) with 1,400 staff handling software development. ■