Ceva Logistics chief executive John Pattullo says he is "pretty pessimistic" about the state of the economy over the next six months, but believes the company is well-placed to emerge strongly from the global downturn.
He says: "If I listen to my customers, then I don't see much cause for optimism. The next six months will be pretty similar to the last six months in the global economy."
The company has worked hard at cutting costs over the last year, says Pattullo, but only where it will make the business more efficient; so far it has lost around 6%-7% of its 50,000-strong global workforce, with a pay freeze in place for senior managers.
But Pattullo stresses that the company did not have a set number of jobs to cut.
He adds: "Each decision is a stand-alone decision. It has to be right for the business rather than me sitting in head office saying we need to lose 5,000 
heads. Where we see opportunities to make the business more efficient, we will do so."
Other efficiency measures have saved €100m (£88.2m) this year, he says, adding about 75% to its profitability. Ceva's Q2 figures showed an increase of 130% in profit over Q1.