IBM layoffs: In a 7-minute meeting, the tech giant announces job cuts in two divisions | Top Vip News

IBM has joined the tech layoff club once again this year when it announced it was laying off employees from its marketing and communications divisions, without mentioning the exact number.

IBM reportedly laid off employees in the company’s marketing and communications division. The layoff decision was revealed in a seven-minute meeting by Jonathan Adashek, IBM’s communications director, with department employees. CNBC reported on layoffs at IBM citing anonymous sources, although the company did not officially release the information.

This comes as the company’s CEO Arvind Krishna said last year that IBM hopes to suspend hiring for roles that could be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming years. Arvind Krishna said hiring in administrative functions, such as human resources, will be suspended or slowed down. He said: “I could easily see 30% of that being replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period.”

At least 204 companies, including IBM, have announced job cuts in 2024, according to the website layoffs.fyi. These layoffs have affected 49,978 employees.

IBM restructuring plan

In January, IBM Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said the company is likely to spend the same amount on restructuring as it did last year, which was $400 million when it reduced its workforce by about 3,900 jobs.

The report states that IBM asked its willing employees to opt for voluntary redundancy and take a layoff initiative that would target positions in Europe. IBM’s initiative is seen as more “transformative” than financial, with 80% of the reduction target targeting the Enterprise Operations & Support (EO&S) and Q2C missions, as well as Finance & Operations.