Key Takeaways
- IBM hasn’t announced the specific number of employees being laid off.
- It may be around 2,700 workers, since that’s one percent of the company’s global workforce.
- Last month, the company released a study indicating high productivity gains from AI use.
IBM has just announced that it will be laying off a “low single-digit percentage” of its workforce around the world in the fourth quarter.
The tech giant had about 270,000 global workers, as of an estimate from the end of 2024, so the number of employees getting a holiday season layoff is likely somewhere around 2,700 or higher.
It’s just the latest sign that the years-long plague of tech industry layoffs is in full swing, with the rise of AI technology marking one big reason why IBM and many others are so set on downsizing.
IBM Sees ‘Rebalance’ After a Review
IBM’s statement on the upcoming role cuts was issued on Tuesday.
While the company has been bullish on AI under the auspices of CEO Arvind Krishna, this round of layoffs hasn’t mentioned AI as an official reason for the workforce reduction, and instead points to a routine rebalancing.
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“We routinely review our workforce […] and at times rebalance accordingly. In the fourth quarter we are executing an action that will impact a low single-digit percentage of our global workforce.” – IBM spokesperson
The company’s shares have risen over 35% this year, reports Reuters. IBM is the largest industrial research organization in the world.
Tech Layoffs Continue
IBM has hinted at an AI push being behind their new approach to productivity. Just last month, the company released a study indicating that 66% of senior leader responses claimed AI had “already driven significant productivity improvements across their organization.”
The multinational tech company is shifting heavily towards a software focus, experts say, and is hoping to benefit from increased spending on cloud-based services. However, last month, the company logged a slowdown in that exact business segment.
While IBM’s new announcement certainly isn’t the only big layoff news this year — or even this month, thanks to Amazon’s five-digit layoff announcement last week — it’s not exactly turning the tide, either. Tech workers are seeing fewer and fewer opportunities for software engineers, infrastructure architects, and many more are finding it increasingly tough to stay employed.
Will the AI Bubble Pop Soon?
Studies point to an unclear return-on-investment for generative AI models. Some are predicting an AI bubble pop is on the way in the near future, as well.
Still, the average worker is responding to all the hype by doing the only thing they can: Seeing how they can fold AI bots into their own workflows to help them justify their jobs with productivity boosts where possible.
All we can say for sure is that tech workers everywhere are finding it increasingly hard to keep earning a living wage in the industry.
