IBM is reportedly laying off thousands of employees across multiple locations in the United States, according to The Register. Quoting sources familiar with it, the report says that the job cuts include a substantial reduction in IBM’s Cloud Classic division. Layoffs have been reported in Raleigh, North Carolina; New York City and State, Dallas, Texas, and California. The exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed, but a source told the publication, “Concrete numbers are being kept private,” adding, “It is in the thousands.”
IBM job cuts: Employees impacted
As per the report, employees from various departments have been impacted. These include consulting, corporate social responsibility, cloud infrastructure, sales, and internal IT systems. Last week, reports emerged that IBM’s Marketing and Communications group also experienced layoffs, which were disclosed during an internal call by Senior Vice President Jonathan Adashek.
In Cloud Classic—a business built on IBM’s 2013 acquisition of SoftLayer—sources indicate that the job cuts are part of a formal restructuring. “It’s a resource action. I don’t know how many people are in IaaS classic. They don’t typically make that information easy to find. What I can say is that they have been making a lot of changes to shift employment to India as much as possible,” the source said.
A former IBM employee who was recently let go characterized the situation as a layoff, noting that around 10 percent of IBM’s broader cloud division has been impacted. “Everyone I know that was affected, myself included, was simply offered a separation agreement,” the individual said.
Meanwhile, IBM employees are expected to comply with new return-to-office requirements, which mandate attendance at least three days per week by the end of April. Sources suggest that badge swipes are being monitored, with medical exemptions reportedly discouraged by management.
