IBM employee group Alliance@IBM says more than 180 jobs have
been cut in the latest round of lay-offs.
"We know other cuts are going on and employees are losing their
jobs to offshored locations, but we do not have the numbers and IBM
is staying in secret mode," Lee Conrad, Alliance@IBM national
co-ordinator told Computer Weekly.
An IBM spokesman said that the company is "constantly managing
resources as client demands evolve across a base of nearly 40,000
employees," according to
reports.
Alliance@IBM fears that the number of jobs to be cut this year
could reach 16,000, as
predicted in January.
The organisation estimates that around 10,000 jobs have been cut
so far this year as IBM moves forward with plans to cut costs,
including
moving jobs offshore to less expensive locations.
The employee organisation has criticised IBM for taking jobs
away from the US, but analysts said the strategy will help IBM win
overseas contracts and maintain healthy profits in its services
business.
The strategy will also lower labour costs and enable IBM to
compete more easily with Indian outsourcing companies.
In July, IBM reported
strong second quarter financial results and raised its 2009
earnings forecast by just over 5% to $9.70 a share.
IBM is well on its way to achieving the $3bn cost cutting target
set in March, with around $1.5bn in expenses slashed so far.