A big round of IBM layoffs is expected to begin any day now, according to reports published on the website of an organization seeking to unionize IBM employees.
The website Alliance@IBM, which first broke the news of a "RA," or "resource action," that could affect IBM employees in the company's Raleigh, North Carolina office. IBM's employs 10,000 workers in its Raleigh offices.
Raleigh's WRAL.com also picked up the story:
Employees at a WebSphere development and support lab in Silicon Valley have reported a "big RA" is expected there with an "estimated 40-50%" of the staff to be "RA'd" on Monday, according to a post on the Alliance@IBM Web site. The Alliance is the union affiliate that is seeking to represent IBM workers.
Other posts at the Alliance site comments section (Read the comments section here) indicate that workers in the IBM Systems and Technology Group and the Integrated Technology Delivery groups could be affected.
The rumored layoffs also made their way to other IBM locations. Rochester, Minnesota's KTTC reports that IBM has brought its "resource action" to the area. Here's KTTC:
"One IBM employee in Toronto told KTTC NewsCenter that he was in shock, and had worked for Big Blue for 32 years. He said his manager told him that the job action was "not confined to his work unit, but was North America-wide." He estimated that 5% of the IBM employees at his location were affected."
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