IBM plans to fire 5,000 US workers; India to benefit

International Business Machines Corp plans to lay off about 5,000 US employees, with many of the jobs being transferred to India, a media report said today.
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The technology giant has been steadily building its work force in India and other locations, while reducing the number of employees based in the US.

Foreign workers accounted for 71 per cent of Big Blue's nearly 400,000 employees at the start of the year, up from about 65 per cent in 2006, the Wall Street Journal said.

The latest round of cuts target the company's global business-services unit, which does everything from running corporate data centers to managing human resources for clients like Procter and Gamble, the paper reported.

Some of the jobs are being eliminated because customers have ended contracts or the company has automated tasks. But employees were quoted as saying in many cases that they have been training IBM workers from India to do work that will now be moved overseas.

An IBM spokesman, the paper said, declined to comment. The company has said it expects to spend about USD 300 million to USD 400 million on severance-related charges this year, with most of it in the first half.

In January, the Wall Street Journal said, IBM had sent layoff notices to about 4,600 people, including workers in its software unit and sales department. Earlier this year, IBM also told employees that if they wanted to move to an emerging market, they could apply for jobs there with IBM, but they would be paid in local wages.

A spokesman on Wednesday was quoted as saying that "dozens" of people have taken the offer, usually natives of those countries.

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BY Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX
Source:TRADING MARKETS

© 2009 The Connors Group, Inc.

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