IBM to cut over 15,000 employees
( 2002-08-14 08:51 ) (7 )

After months of surreptitious layoff notices, technology giant IBM Corp. revealed that it's in the process of cutting more than 15,600 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force.

The total layoff figures, which IBM never announced publicly, appeared in a Tuesday filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Employees losing their jobs were notified in several batches during the second quarter, which ended June 30.

IBM reported cutting 14,213 jobs, the majority of which fell on its Global Services unit, with some workers also laid off in its servers and software businesses. A further batch of layoffs dismissed 1,400 workers from the company's Microelectronics division, which manufactures semiconductors.

"The work force reductions are intended to drive productivity and efficiency throughout the company," said IBM spokeswoman Carol Makovich.

IBM blamed the cuts on "the recent decline in corporate spending on technology services."

By Sept. 30, when most of the laid-off workers are expected to have departed, IBM's work force will have been cut from 320,000 to around 305,000, Makovich said.

Among the sites losing employees are IBM plants in Burlington, Vt., Endicott and East Fishkill, N.Y.; Lowell, Mass.; Raleigh, N.C.; Austin, Texas, and Encinitas, Calif.

But the Armonk, N.Y.-based hardware and services vendor is also expected to undergo a surge in employees, as it adds some 30,000 members of the consulting arm of accountancy PricewaterhouseCooopers. IBM expects to complete the deal by the end of September, Makovich said.

Last month, IBM announced it would purchase the PwC consulting and technology services business for US$3.5 billion in cash and stock. The unit, PwC Consulting, will merge with IBM Global Services, which has overtaken the company's hardware division as the company's largest revenue earner. About half of IBM's employees work in the Global Services unit.

Separately on Tuesday, IBM submitted sworn statements from its chief executive and chief financial officer declaring the accuracy of its financial statements, in compliance with a recent SEC order.

Shares of IBM were up 13 cents to close at US$71.90 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, but fell 16 cents in extended trading.