IBM Denies Mass Layoff Of More Than 100K Workers, But Confirms ‘Several Thousand’ Jobs Will be Cut

IBM officials and workers’ representatives at Big Blue are denying a report that the company plans to cut more than 100,000 jobs in the next several weeks in what would be the biggest mass layoff in U.S. corporate history.  (Read Here)

But analysts, union officials and IBM representatives were quick to dismiss the report, describing it as being "ridiculous".

IBM, which has seen revenue dip in 11 straight quarters as customers move computing operations to the cloud, is however, expected to reduce its head count by about 8,000 to 9,000 workers in coming weeks.

“IBM does not comment on rumors, even ridiculous or baseless ones,” said a spokesman, in an email to International Business Times. 

IBM in the fourth quarter announced a charge against earnings of $600 million for “workforce rebalancing,” which is Big Blue speak for layoffs.

“This equates to several thousand people, a mere fraction of what’s been reported,” the spokesman said. Analysts estimate IBM’s redundancies cost the company about $70,000 to $75,000 per worker, which means the Q4 charge implies layoffs numbering 8,000 to 9,000.

...InternationalBusinessTimes