IBM eliminates nearly 2,500 jobs across US Text Size: A | A | A Posted: March 03, 2010 - 2:00 AM
IBM layoffs in the mid-Hudson numbered into the hundreds Tuesday, and by 9 p.m. the company had eliminated nearly 2,500 U.S. positions. A source with knowledge of the layoffs said the bulk of the cuts would be over by Wednesday. Hardest-hit are IBM facilities in the South and West, according to the source. Unlike previous layoffs, most of the eliminated positions aren't in IBM's Systems and Technology Group, which makes up the biggest bloc of workers in East Fishkill and Poughkeepsie. Instead, employees who help sell and develop IBM's “business solutions” to its clients were the most heavily affected. Some of those employees work at IBM Sterling Forest in Orange County. IBM, like all companies, rebalances its work force as its customers' needs shift, spokesman Doug Shelton said. The company would not confirm how many positions it cut, but Alliance@IBM, an employee group that has tried unsuccessfully for years to unionize IBMers, was able to provide a tally by using “resource action” documents leaked to it by laid-off workers. (IBM refers to layoffs as resource actions.) Workers tend to turn to the Alliance after they've already been laid off, limiting the group's effectiveness, according to Lee Conrad, its national coordinator. They fear retaliation if they were to organize, he said. “There is still a lot of fear, and job cuts crank up the fear and uncertainty.” Even with fewer workers, IBM is the region's largest private-sector employer. Because the majority of the region's IBM operations are deeply rooted in the company's manufacturing tradition, it hasn't been the focus of job growth in many years. Instead, IBM has added jobs in clusters that support its mission of providing solutions to business and government clients. Last year, for example, the company announced more than 500 jobs would come to a new center in Manhattan. In recent quarters, the Systems and Technology Group has successfully competed against its chief rivals – Sun/Oracle and Dell – in winning more and more mainframe and server customers. Sales of those machines are very lucrative for IBM. gspohr@th-record.com
