IBM spokesperson Sarah Minkel emailed a rather vague statement to Computerworld that seemed to confirm the layoffs: “Early this year, IBM disclosed a workforce rebalancing charge that would represent a very low single digit percentage of IBM’s global workforce, and we still expect to exit 2024 at roughly the same level of employment as we entered with.”
The Register did some quick math, based on IBM’s global employment numbers. “With about 288,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2023, the ‘very low single digit percentage’ possibilities for 2024 might be 1 percent (2,880 layoffs), 2 percent (5,760 layoffs), 3 percent (8,640 layoffs), or more,” the Register story noted.
It also noted, “last year, CEO Arvind Krishna said IBM expected to replace around 7,800 jobs with AI, though no specific time frame was provided.”
