IBM’s Layoffs Exceed 1,600 People

According to employee group Alliance@IBM, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America union, layoffs at IBM have more than exceeded the initial estimates of 1,600 positions. These include at least 222 people from areas like marketing and 165 in semiconductor research and development.

IMB – one of the world’s largest computer services providers – has initiated a global restructuring plan, laying-off nearly 2,800 employees in North America alone. And more cuts are expected in nations like India as the company intents on spending $1 billion globally to trim its workforce.

According to the official national IBM employee’s union, the total number of lay-offs in the US as of June 15, 2013 was 2,792. But some grimly project the number of workers cut could hit upwards of 8,000 – roughly two percent of the company’s workforce. Others speculate the number to be closer to 5,000.

The layoffs, known as resource actions, on a more intimate scale, have affected at least 65 people in IBM’s storage-systems development center at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park.

International Business Machines Corporation, or IBM, is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation – founded in 1911 as the Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR) – with headquarters in Armonk, New York.

IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. IBM has 12 research laboratories worldwide and holds the record for most patents generated by a single company for 20 consecutive years.

The company first confirmed the restructuring back in April – following a poor first-quarter – and again on Thursday, but did not provide additional details other than to cite the competitive nature of the industry.

Despite the recent cuts, IBM said it remains the largest technology employer in the world with roughly 434,000 people.

[Image via Wikicommons]