indexit about IBM layoff from Tuesday:
IBM cuts jobs as part of routine evaluations
July 11, 2001 1:36 pm
NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp. <IBM>, which confirmed
last week it was laying off nearly 1,500 workers in its global services unit, is letting other
employees go in its personal computer business and its sales and distribution operation, a
spokesman said on Wednesday.
The job cuts at the world's largest computer maker were part of routine evaluation of workers'
skills, said spokesman John Bukovinsky.
smartmoney.com
IBM continues quiet job cuts; latest cuts are in PC business
San Francisco, July 11 - After quietly trimming staff in its
service division last week, IBM continued with unit-by-unit layoffs this week,
with the latest round hitting the company's PC business. A spokeswoman for Big
Blue provided few details on the scope of the job cuts, saying the layoffs have
impacted a "small percentage" of workers while its overall ranks are growing.
* * *
Downplaying the significance of the cuts, the spokeswoman said she was
unable to provide an exact count of the layoffs because they are being
implemented at the business unit level. Approximately 150 workers in the PC
division were the latest to receive pink slips, another spokeswoman confirmed.
A latecomer to the game, IBM is certainly not alone in adjusting its
work force during a slump in demand for information technology products. Just
Monday, computer maker Compaq Computer Corp. upped its planned layoffs for the
year by 4,000, bringing total planned layoffs to 8,500.
Where IBM differs, perhaps, from others in the industry is by laying
workers off quietly. It is also unique in that it is not yet blaming the
layoffs on economic or business conditions; instead it is describing the
work force adjustment as sort of "skills rebalancing" act.
Although IBM is reluctant to provide detailed information on its work force
adjustment, Alliance@IBM, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of
America, is attempting to keep track, posting anecdotal reports as well as
articles about layoffs on its Web site.
According to Lee Conrad, national organizer for Allianc@IBM, the union is
aware of layoffs nearing 3,000 to 4,000 during the past couple of months.
Included in that tally are an estimated 1,500 workers in the global services
division, another 500 workers in Hungary, the latest cuts in the PC division
and other cuts around the country.
The union sent a letter to management on July 2, addressed to Chief
Operating Officer Sam Palmisano and Senior Vice President for Human Resources
Randall MacDonald, asking management to disclose its plans for work force or
benefit reductions and provide information on steps already taken,
"Many IBM employees who work in IBM today are the same ones who through
their dedication and perseverance survived the bad times of the early 1990s.
We are the same IBMers who rebuilt IBM. We are also stockholders who care
deeply about the long term health of our company. We deserve respect and we
demand answers," Conrad wrote in the letter on behalf of Alliance@IBM.
The union has not yet received a reply to its letter. |
