SAP to cut 2,200 jobs, plans to recreate them in other parts of the company

"There won't be any impact on customers. We will ensure that we have sufficient hand-over time between colleagues who might be leaving and others taking over," a company spokeswoman said Friday.

The restructuring will affect about 3 percent of SAP's 74,400 employees. Workers in Germany, France, the U.K. and the U.S. will be offered early retirement, or the opportunity to switch jobs and work for other divisions of the company. Staff in Europe won't be forced to leave, but lay-offs can't be avoided elsewhere, said the spokeswoman.

She declined to say which areas will be affected as the employees must still be informed of the company's plans.

The job cuts are necessary to ensure a solid financial foundation for the company, she said, adding that despite the cuts, the company will still expand its workforce in 2015.

Loek is Amsterdam Correspondent and covers online privacy, intellectual property, online payment issues as well as EU technology policy and regulation for the IDG News Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to loek_essers@idg.com