IBM denies report of impending massive layoffs [Update]
Vlad Dudau
According to a Forbes report, Big Blue will initiate “Project Chrome” starting today, a reorganization so large that it puts others to shame. In total, upwards of 110,000 employees or about 26% of the company’s workforce will be let go by the end of February.
The move comes after years of declining revenues and inability to transition in the markets. IBM has coasted on its patent portfolio and enterprise division for a long time, but thanks to a fast-changing environment and stronger, more agile competition, the company has slowly become irrelevant.
Even its recently announced partnership with Apple seems to have done very little to stem the tide, and Big Blue looks set to become “much smaller Blue” pretty soon.
Obviously this a pretty tragic development for its employees. Most hard-hit will be the U.S. divisions, but employees and even contractors around the world will feel the effects of this shake-up.
The company hasn’t commented publicly on their plans, but if they are indeed as massive as reported, we’ll no doubt start seeing the aftermath soon.
Update: IBM has denied Forbes' report, with a spokesman issuing the following statement to the Wall Street Journal:
IBM does not comment on rumors, even ridiculous or baseless ones. If anyone had checked information readily available from our public earnings statements, or had simply asked us, they would know that IBM has already announced the company has just taken a $600 million charge for workforce rebalancing. This equates to several thousand people, a small fraction of what was reported.
This article's headline has been updated accordingly.