Fresh reports indicate that International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has initiated layoffs within its workforce. Refraining from disclosing the precise number of job reductions, the company is said to have implemented workforce reductions within its marketing and communications division.
Jonathan Adashek, chief communications officer, IBM, reportedly communicated the decision during a brief seven-minute meeting with department employees. The company is yet to confirm the same.
These actions coincide with previous statements by Arvind Krishna, CEO, IBM, who indicated last year that IBM intends to halt hiring for roles that could be automated by artificial intelligence (AI) in the near future. Krishna specifically mentioned a potential pause or slowdown in hiring for back-office functions such as human resources, estimating that up to 30 per cent of these roles could be automated over a five-year period.
The ongoing actions at IBM suggest a significant restructuring effort. In January, the company was expected to allocate a similar amount towards restructuring efforts as it did in the previous year, amounting to $400 million.
This expenditure coincided with a reduction of about 3,900 jobs in the workforce.
IBM has recently called upon employees willing to opt for voluntary redundancy as the company initiated another round of global job cuts.
These job cuts primarily focus on positions in Europe and a few other specific departments. Approximately 80 per cent of the reduction target is set for enterprise operations and support (EO&S) and Q2C missions, as well as finance and operations, encompassing procurement, CIO, HR, marketing and communications, and global real estate.