- "IBM (IBM +1.5%) does not comment on rumors, even ridiculous or baseless ones," says Big Blue in response to a report it's laying off over 110K workers. "If anyone had checked information readily available from our public earnings statements ... they would know that IBM has already announced the company has just taken a $600 million charge for workforce rebalancing."
- IBM adds it currently has ~15K job openings worldwide, and that it "continues to remix its skills to match where we see the best opportunities in the marketplace."
- Workers' union Alliance@IBM suggests taking a cautious view of the report. "Various members of the media are picking up on Robert Cringley's assertion that 100,000 IBMers will lose their jobs next week in a massive reorg at IBM. The Alliance has no information that this is true ... But as you all know, anything can happen at IBM anymore and this is the time of year that IBM cuts jobs."
- Though IBM has carried out plenty of layoffs in recent years, 110K+ workers would be a far larger restructuring move than anything previously launched. As Hong Kong's The Standard notes, a $600M charge likely covers the layoff of several thousand workers.
- The Register reported earlier this month IBM is planning a big reorg that will see the company "try to shed [its] dusty hardware, software and services silo structure."
-
Update: CNBC's Jon Fortt reports IBM is laying off less than 10K workers.