IBM Cuts 1,753 Jobs in Operations Overhaul

May 30, 06:13 PM

Current Headlines: IBM Corp. said Wednesday it cut 1,753 jobs, mostly in its U.S. technology-services unit, as part of a continuing operations overhaul.

The company cut another 1,300 jobs, also mostly in technology services, at the beginning of the month, for a total of 3,053, spokesman Edward Barbini told United Press International.

The Armonk, N.Y., company employed 355,000 people worldwide at the beginning of the year -- its highest total in more than 15 years, Barbini said.

Its 128,000 U.S.-employee count has been stable for a number of years, he said.

And the company hired more than 19,000 people this year, ahead of last year's pace, Barbini said. He didn't say where the new employees were based.

IBM's Global Services unit, including technology services, is the computer giant's largest revenue generator but profit margins have shrunk considerably in recent years, in part due to competition from companies based in India and other lower-cost centers, E-Commerce Times reported.

IBM hopes to cut expenses at high-cost centers, such as U.S. technology-services workers and embrace higher-profit business lines such as software, IBM said.

Barbini told UPI about 20 percent of employees whose job are cut typically find other jobs at IBM.