IBM Layoffs 2010: BIG Cutbacks Expected At 'Big Blue'

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."

Have you been laid off by IBM? Know someone who was? Let us know! Email us at the tips address below.

Comments

[BigBlues]

01:51 PM on 03/09/2010

Good thing federal & state governments have been spending big bucks with IBM in the U.S. for the past decade.

IBM employment totals since 2002 (Keep in mind IBM has acquired many US-based software companies during this time frame. So the total numbers of US workers sent to the ranks of the unemployed is actually larger than this numbers may indicate.)

2010: 102,000 & counting down in the U.S.
United States / World(Total) ** Source: IBM Annual Reports & other IBM sources
2009: 105,000 / 399,000+
2008: 115,000 / 398,455
2007: 121,000 / 386,558
2006: 127,000 / 355,766
2005: 133,789 / 329,373
2004: 139,899 / 329,001
2003: 141,022 / 319,273
2002: 145,705 / 315,889
2001: 152,195 / 319,876

[Michael Shanley]

11:47 AM on 03/03/2010

i'm suprised that ever sense IBM became a Chinese owned company they have moved their HQ and operations to china for cheaper labor....but i guess then they wouldn't have access and be closer to try and steal American secrets and technology.

[slobone]

11:44 PM on 03/26/2010

They sold their PC business to a Chinese company but they still have plenty of other operations in the US.

[humanbeing-rick]

11:45 AM on 03/03/2010

It is self-evident that our own American business leaders have sold out the American workers and their families. It is a race to the bottom in their global "free market".
As an engineering professional for over 35 years in America, I have seen it all, and I am very depressed. I have seen most of my co-workers get laid off while the work load of those remaining increases to the point that it is impossible to produce a quality product any longer. Every time, the executives run off with the money, leaving the workers behind in the dust.
Major telecommunications companies and data networking companies have resorted to foreign labor in order to stay competitive with each other, an unrestricted race to the bottom. Instead of promoting American engineers, they imported foreigners to run our departments and take over the engineering functions within the company. It is a shame to see brilliant American engineers working for inferior foreign engineers who can barely speak english or understand American engineering standards, imported by management. I dont think they even use english at the CIO and chief engineers council meetings anymore, none of them are American.
IBM and all the big global corporations use America like a puppet in their global games.

[w8aminute]

03:28 PM on 03/03/2010

yep- with their hands out for tax breaks.

[lboucher]

04:29 AM on 03/03/2010

Most software development at HP, IBM and Microsoft etc. will be in India and China within two years. Only a small corp admin staff along with sales and marketing will be in in the US. By the way this includes accounting functions.

HP will also once again be making layoffs.

[captkirkatx]

02:56 AM on 03/03/2010

A parting thought. I really enjoyed the intelligent discussion on this thread. It seems like all the main storys are buried by idoits who think this is their personal chat room, ("Hi love", "nice to see you," "how ya doin tonight," "good night (20 times.)") I really wonder if all these posters with hundreds of fans are really paid to bury the angst and opinions of real posters so we don't connect/ reflect. I often find that cogent unoffensive posts are often denied on the "moderated" threads. I like the story selections on HP but think I'm ready to move elsewhere where the moderation is less Stalinistic & the discourse is more cerebral.

[jcaunter]

01:18 AM on 03/03/2010

Well of course IBM needs to fire these American workers. Indians will do the same work for 1/3 or less the price, and allow IBM to fatten their profit margins further.

Yes, it is going to further force down the permanent readjustment of living standards, or "recession" as Obama and Democrats prefer to call it, that America is going through, and American workers will be even less able to afford IBM products, but hey: living standards are rising sharply in India and China thanks to aggressive local and American government economic intervention, so IBM will be able to sell their products in those countries, even if they don't do well in Mexico, the United States, and Kazakhstan.

But at least we'll still have our "free market", so conservative peasants should take consolation in that as they prepare themselves for work every morning as servants to their conservative landed rich lords.

[w8aminute]

03:33 PM on 03/03/2010

IBM doesn't sell products to American consumers. They sell 'services' . The hardware they do sell is to other mega-corporations that can afford the millions of dollars. No more laptops, printers, etc to average Americans- we and their remaining US workforce are just peons. They get their tax and other concessions from countries around the globe so the CEO and board can make millions per year. The only thing they care about is stock price.

[Lahonda]

11:00 PM on 03/02/2010

America is losing some its icons of business.

But then, the world economy is now a $70 Trillion ocean. America's share of that is now a much lower percentage at only $22 Trillion and therefore must stand on its own accord for innovative research and development. I suggest less spent on war and more spent on peace would be a great start!

IBM has some very big competitors out there, but everyone remember at $103 Billion a year, they're number two worldwide only to HP.

"Although IBM lost its first place rank to Hewlett-Packard in terms of revenue, IBM is a far more profitable business (boasting a gross profit of $45.6 billion for FY08"

http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/International_Business_Machines_(IBM)

They really didn't need to lay anyone off with gross margins like that!

[sueinmn]

09:57 PM on 03/02/2010

Layoffs began yesterday nationwide. They were reported as being very methocical, like every four minutes. Another company that needs to leave the US and seek tax cuts elsewhere!

[Sundialsvc4]

07:10 PM on 03/02/2010

Yessir, it's a race to the bottom, folks. That's what makes Depression cycles "great." They are, literally, a "death spiral."

The Worldwide Great Depression of 2008 will make the American Great Depression of 2009 look like a cake-walk. As jobs contract, sales contract, and as sales contract, jobs contract. The feedback loop follows an -exponential- progression, which is what no one at this point professes to understand.

An "exponential progression" is the familiar "elbow-shaped curve," sometimes called "hitting the wall." It starts with a fairly linear-looking "downturn," but its slope is always increasing. Currently, the American government is trying to mask this by fudging the numbers, and now by creating euphemism terms like "under-employment" or by changing the definitions without re-stating any of the figures (so that you are comparing apples to oranges).

You're using the Internet right now, but believe it or not, it's possible that the Internet itself will become an economic calamity. One day, this grand global Net might literally ... be switched off, forever.

[plwood01]

09:06 AM on 03/02/2010

IBM is known for huge layoffs, that is true. But, I remember when MAC held the larger market share and every business was running their software. Maybe that is what is happening today. I know that they are running Windows software with their machines more than with MAC now. The thing is that most people who use MAC ae saying they are more reliable and Windows has been hitting zero on their new operating systems, Vista and Windows 7 are not as realiable as XP was! I have used all this year and XP is still my favorite even though I have upgraded with new laptop. The system is not stable at all...perhaps the products need to be recalled for example. Anyway, I will be buying a MAC pretty soon.

[kozmo9]

03:25 PM on 03/02/2010

IBM has little to do with the Mac/PC issue anymore. They don't make PCs, and their systems mostly run Linux (or AIX), not Windows.

[sueinmn]

09:58 PM on 03/02/2010

I agree XP was the best and stable. Why do they have to keep going for new and better when they had something that really worked well?

[hey0there]

11:56 PM on 03/02/2010

if your last ms product was xp bought ten years ago ms isn't making any money off you. eventually one imagines that even os's will be part of the 'cloud' and have monthly fees like your phone service, etc. make no mistake, when you hear some exec waxing poetic about how awesome cloud computing is, its because they have great revenue generating possibilities

[blueken]

09:03 AM on 03/02/2010

Boy, where do I start. I have run an IBM shop for 23 years. My last purchase was a couple of IBM/RICHO printers. I have never had so many problems with an IBM printer. They jam, loose configuration and defy networking. My son started working at IBM right out of college. He has worked there about 15 years. In about 10 of those years the "lay off ax" has been over his head. He would like nothing more than to leave IBM and teach. He is so sick of the stress. He has had more than one project dumped on him that was started over seas. The work is shoddy and un-documented and he is told to make it work. Many times he has just started over from scratch. Over seas savings are often a mirage, fostered by incompetent managers. They point to big savings by off shoreing and move on before the poop hits the fan. At one time I had total faith in IBM. Now, not so much.

[mountainweb]

05:27 PM on 03/02/2010

Outsourcing to India is a serious quality issue. Execs get a check mark for quick savings but only later is it discovered that the true cost is much higher. Software product quality is going down hill very quickly. They lay of American workers with very little transfer of knowledge, guess what the result of that is....

[realdataguy]

06:56 PM on 04/13/2010

I have worked with a number of H-1Bs from China. Of the 6, 1 has been able to do work alone. The rest require constant supervision. There is no ability to think critically out of China. Good at rote memorization, that is all. American software engineers are creative, and can be allowed to self-direct.

H-1Bs must be eliminated.

[WindySailor]

09:02 AM on 03/02/2010

Looks like the employment picture in India will be turning up.

[nobodyspecial]

10:07 AM on 03/02/2010

You are correct. IBM will take funding for American "head count" and send it to India or China and a few other emerging markets, (eg. Vietnam, Mexico,..).

American customers to IBM will continue to pay American prices for products & services. However, IBM will employ lower costs in labor for operations, manufacturing & development abroad where skills can be exploited.

Moffat left. But the culture at the top remains. If you can't work for 25% of your current compensation - sit down, shut up your American status is a ticket to the streets.

These companies are good for re-inforcing the notion that Americans are over paid, lazy and lacking in skills. With 50%+ not being American citizens,... what's to be expected ? Sad.

[realdataguy]

06:58 PM on 04/13/2010

I am part of a team making a decision of IBM or an American company. I am not the decision maker, but I am not going to go with IBM is I have any say in the matter.

[Ontrackmac]

08:52 AM on 03/02/2010

Wonder what "Bunning-ism" shall describe this new addition to the Gubment cheese and peanut butter doles?
Please Sir...May I have another bowl of soup?

[verycold]

05:37 PM on 03/02/2010

Actually Bunning is just the first that will have to tell YOU bad news. That 17 man deficit commission will be forced to cut many entitlement programs. It is where all the bad news is.

IBM lost its luster a long time ago. It really is sad, but cutting costs with no care in mind about quality is the fast road to becoming history. Look back to see what companies were once the movers and shakers.

Much like our corrupt government, many businesses have taken the same short term attitude to fix problems instead of fixing the foundation.

[sc300nc]

08:40 AM on 03/02/2010

IBM must think its going to snow.

[yourmomscalling]

04:05 AM on 03/02/2010

NO RUMOR AND THE GOVERNMENT TELLS YOU EVERYTHING IS FINE AND DANDY !!!

NOT!!!! CHECK FOR YOURSELF !!!