IBM Cuts Over 2,500 Jobs

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- IBM Corp. this week reportedly cut over 2,500 jobs, according to a union. IBM declined to comment to the reports. ''On March 1st , over 2,500 IBM employees got a rude awakening,'' according to the IBM union, dubbed the Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701. ''Once again, the company they toiled for turned its back on them and showed them the door and the unemployment line.'' IBM declined to elaborate. In an e-mail, an IBM spokesman said: ''We are always re-mixing the business to remain competitive. IBM is still the largest tech employer in the world and the U.S. based on available data and we expect that will continue.'' In 2009, some 10,400 workers at IBM lost their jobs despite decent results, the Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701 said. Many U.S.-based IBM workers lost their jobs, including within IBM's chip unit. Overall, many of those jobs were shifted offshore to India and other locations. ''In 2009 after glowing financial results IBM executives immediately started firing employees,'' according to the union. ''By the time 2009 was over at least 10,400 workers had lost their jobs. IBM executives are abandoning the U.S. workforce and moving work offshore, and to make matters even worse, bringing in foreign workers to replace US workers on contracts and accounts here. Make no mistake, the job cuts are far from over.'' Last year, IBM confirmed the layoffs in various reports, but it has been mum about the size and the extent of the cutbacks. The computer giant has been able to skirt the issue, because the layoffs fall short of 500 in a specific division, as defined by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act.