HUAWEI Technologies Co.’s founder Ren Zhengfei warned in an internal memo that the company is at a “live or die moment” and advised underutilized employees to form “commando squads” to explore new projects.

Workers who fail will have their salaries cut every few months and may lose their jobs, Ren said Tuesday.

The company’s internal estimates show it expects to sell 60 million fewer phones in 2019 than it would have done without the U.S. impositions.

In 2018, Huawei grew its mobile shipments by 34 percent to 206 million, according to IDC data, and in the first quarter of 2019 its pace accelerated to a 50 percent improvement while rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. both saw shrinking sales. By the second quarter of this year, affected by U.S. sanctions, Huawei’s growth had been slashed to 8.3 percent.

Having successfully penetrated the European mobile market, Huawei was on a path to becoming the world’s biggest phone vendor, but the loss of Google’s Android and the related Play Store app ecosystem made Huawei devices less desirable outside of China.

Ren warned in his memo that redundant staff need to find a way to make themselves useful.

“They either form a ‘commando squad’ to explore new projects — in which case they could be promoted to company commander if they do well,” he wrote. “Or they can find jobs in the internal market. If they fail to find a role, their salaries will be cut every three months.”

The consumer division, according to Huawei itself, is its growth engine. Accounting for 45 percent of its revenue last year, the business that sells phones and other gadgets is instrumental to Huawei’s future health, and it’s taken a blow from the allegations and sanctions levied against Huawei. That won’t be repaired anytime soon, and it may take years for the company to recover, according to Ren.

In the wake of the U.S. ban, Huawei rolled out its Harmony OS out earlier this month.

Ren wrote that the company’s priorities are for employees to make “meritorious deeds” and for management “to promote outstanding employees as soon as possible and infuse new blood to our organization.”

Without the U.S. trade intervention, Huawei would be threatening Samsung for the crown of the world’s most prolific smartphone vendor and it would be capitalizing on its lead in 5G technology. (SD-Agencies)