BackIBM said to start US jobs cuts amid global reduction
Reduction will target employees with a range of seniority, from rank-and-file workers to executives
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New York: International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) began cutting US jobs on Wednesday as part of a plan announced in April to spend $1 billion globally to trim its workforce, according to a person familiar with the move.
The reduction will target employees with a range of seniority, from rank-and-file workers to executives, said the person, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Some US employees began to receive notifications of the cuts last night, according to Lee Conrad, a coordinator for Alliance@IBM, an employee group.
IBM, the world’s largest provider of computer services, announced the job-cutting effort after releasing disappointing first-quarter results in April. The Armonk, New York-based company posted profit of $3 a share in the period, missing the $3.05 predicted by analysts. It was the first earnings shortfall since 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. IBM said at the time that the job reduction would be concentrated overseas.
The company is probably cutting 6,000 to 8,000 jobs globally, based on the $1 billion cost figure, said Laurence Balter, an analyst at Oracle Investment Research in Fox Island, Washington. That would represent less than 2% of IBM’s total workforce of 434,246 as of 31 December.
“Change is constant in the technology industry and transformation is an essential feature of our business model," IBM said on Wednesday in a statement, without giving specifics on the job cuts. “Consequently, some level of workforce remix is a constant requirement for our business. Given the competitive nature of our industry, we do not publicly discuss the details of staffing plans." Bloomberg
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