IBM is in the process of cutting more than 15,600 jobs, the company revealed on Tuesday in filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The majority of job cuts are in IBM's Global Services division, in response to the recent decline in corporate spending on technology services, IBM said in its 10-Q quarterly filing. IBM Global Services is losing 14,213 people, of which about 57 per cent had left the company by June 30. The remaining people were notified during the second quarter, and most will leave IBM by September 30, the company said.
In its Microelectronics division, IBM is shedding 1,400 jobs. Those affected have been notified and the majority will leave the company by August 30, the 10-Q filing states.
When IBM announced its second-quarter earnings last month, executives alluded to workforce reductions but did not discuss how many employees would be cut.
As of September 30, when most of the laid-off employees will have departed, IBM's workforce will number about 320,000, said IBM spokesperson Carol Makovich. That figure is down almost 5 per cent from the 320,000 people IBM employed as of December 2001.
Meanwhile, IBM is expected to gain 30,000 employees through its pending acquisition of PwC Consulting. Last month, IBM announced plans to buy the consulting division of accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for $US3.5 billion in cash and stock.
Meanwhile, IBM on Tuesday filed sworn statements by CEO Sam Palmisano and CFO John Joyce in accordance with the SEC's June 27 order requiring key executives at 947 publicly traded US companies to attest under oath that their company's recent financial filings are accurate and complete.
