Scattered layoffs in IBM can touch 4,600: Report

[OhioChick]

Source: Economic Times India

8 Mar 2009, 2100 hrs IST, PTI

NEW YORK: Technology giant IBM is resorting to "scattered layoffs" and the total could be nearly 4,600 employees in North America even though the company has reported surprisingly strong quarterly profits in January, a media report says.
"Big companies also routinely carry out scattered layoffs that are small enough to stay under the radar... and IBM is one such company," the New York Times said.

Interestingly, after reporting strong quarterly profits in January, its Chief Executive Samuel J Palmisano in an e-mail message to employees said that while other companies were reducing jobs, his company would not. "Most importantly, we will invest in our people," he wrote.

But the next day, the New York Times said "more than 1,400 employees in IBM's sales and distribution division in the United States and Canada were told their jobs would be eliminated in a month. More cuts followed, and overall, IBM has told about 4,600 North American employees in recent weeks that their jobs are vanishing."

Quoting J Randall MacDonald, IBM's senior vice-president for human resources, the newspaper said "it was routine for the company to lay off some employees while hiring elsewhere".

IBM says it remains the largest high-tech employer in the US, with 1,15,000 workers. But IBM's American employment has declined steadily, down to 29 per cent of its worldwide payroll of 3,98,445 at the end of 2008.

However, experts have a different take on this. According to them, these unannounced cuts raise issues of disclosure and the treatment of workers.


Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Scattered-layoffs-in-IBM-can-touch-4600-Report/articleshow/4241678.cms

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"Most importantly, we will invest in our people,"

Yeah, right. :eyes:

[ihavenobias]

1. I'm waiting for the day when I'm not stunned by these announcements.

Then again if that happens that's probably a bad sign, to put it lightly.

[pmorlan1]

2. Corporate Liars

Lot's of corporations do these dirty layoffs. They layoff the people they don't want and then turn around and hire new people, usually for lower pay. One day someone is there and the next day they're gone. They rarely tell anyone else who works with these people that they're gone. The people in other departments who worked with them find out they've been disappeared when they call them and someone tells them they're gone. The corporation treats them as if they never existed.

[high density]

3. The S&P 500 company I work for is doing the same thing

Scattered layoffs a handful at a time that stay under the news media's radar.

[lapfog_1]

4. This isn't new.

I was laid off as part of over 600 at IBM last October. 100 people in my location.

I had been there only 5 months. The layoffs were done by length of employment.

[antigop]

5. And the answer is....begins with a "u", ends with an "n"

u-n-i-o-n

[AlCzervik]

6. My sister was one of them, 19 years, cya!

[Jello Biafra]

7. That's about the right number....

with more to come. Hey folks, you really really really need to read this....this is now what IBM is about...

http://www.lohud.com/article/20090204/BUSINESS01/902040334/-1/newsfront

[OhioChick]

8. Thanks for posting...

I read about that. I think the CEO...what's his name...Sam....should take his family to India to live.

BTW...Welcome to DU. :hi: