TOKYO - Shares of Konica Minolta jumped to a 10-month high on its plan to slash 2,400 jobs worldwide, part of an effort to boost profitability.

The maker of photocopiers and medical diagnostic imaging equipment said in a statement on April 4 it is reducing headcount around the world over the next twelve months by increasing productivity through the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

The cuts are set to increase profit by 20 billion yen (S$178 million) in the fiscal year starting April 2025, Konica Minolta said.

The company, which had close to 40,000 employees worldwide as at early 2023, said it will concentrate its resources on profitability.

Japan is crowded with the world’s biggest makers of office equipment, including Canon, Fujifilm Holdings and Ricoh.

Demand for printers and copiers has declined steadily as more offices go paperless, prompting many of these companies to shift their optics expertise into areas such as healthcare, semiconductor production and space technologies.

In 2023, Ricoh and Toshiba Tec Corp announced a merger of such operations, and investors have been looking for signs of further consolidation in the sector, according to Okasan Securities analyst Takashi Shimamoto.

At a news conference on the company’s multifunction printer operations, Konica Minolta chief executive Toshimitsu Taiko said: “We will also pursue the possibility of alliances in areas where there are no competitive clashes.”

He added: “We are doing what we can on our own.”

Konica Minolta will use AI “even for tasks that require some judgment”, he said.

Konica Minolta, which dates back to 1873, was an early innovator in cameras and photo materials. It later diversified into copiers and healthcare equipment.

Its stock price remains far below the level of the 2000s. The stock is down more than 50 per cent over the past five years.

The shares had recovered some of those losses in recent months, gaining 21 per cent in 2024 before it closed up 5.9 per cent on April 4. BLOOMBERG