Some 14,000 local IBM staff are safe from a reported 4000 job cuts sweeping across the company's US operations.
While the global recession has affected both countries, a company spokesperson reiterated earlier statements that local staff numbers will be unaffected, and have even increased this year.
An Australian Services Union spokesperson said it was not aware of plans to cut local jobs.
Some 4000 jobs will be axed in the company’s global business services division, with many lost to workers in India, according to the US IBM union, Alliance@IBM.
The union’s national coordinator Lee Conrad told Computerworld US IBM has not confirmed the cuts, reported earlier this year, but has heard similar reports from Canadian workers.
"We don't have any confirmation, as usual," Conrad said. "What really bothers us is that if there's work in India, there's work here.”
The US cuts will likely affect application maintenance, development and network management, according to Forrester Research.
They come on the heels of intense media speculation that the technology giant may acquire Sun Microsystems for as much as $9.3 billion, following years of industry rumours.
