The Media Barely Reported This (Late Friday): IBM Lays Off About 2,000 More Workers, Effective Hours Ago
IBM seems to be silently collapsing, but almost nobody talks about it (they focus on Wall Street, which is nonsense!). The vanguard contracts are up in flames. It's getting hard to justify renewing these. The same thing impacts Microsoft, then people act all shocked that Skype shuts down, Microsoft gets out of datacentres, and even admits an issue with "business models", including for "hey hi".
IBM and Microsoft cannot just keep selling buzzwords or "quantum" vapourware [1, 2]. That just won't work forever. People ask questions.
As noted a short while ago [1, 2] (original in a Chinese site), "IBM has announced it will close its subsidiary, IBM Ventures (China) Co., Ltd., alongside its branches, effective March 1, 2025."
That's just hours ago. It also says "IBM has seen a decline in financial performance in China, with revenue dropping by 19.6% in 2023. The company also reported a year-on-year decrease of 5% in revenue for the first half of 2024. While fewer clients were reported, IBM’s consulting division, IBMC, achieved five consecutive quarters of growth in China. However, sources suggest that layoffs may also impact IBMC soon."
The other article gives similar figures: "Financial reports indicate that in 2023, IBM’s revenue in the Chinese market dropped by 19.6%, becoming a significant factor hindering revenue growth in the Asia-Pacific region. In the first half of 2024, IBM’s sales in China declined by 5% year-on-year."
It says that "as disclosed by an IBM employee, IBMC will also undergo layoffs this year."
So the whole thing is dead.
"On Friday afternoon, IBM China responded officially," it adds.
So it's official. On a "Friday afternoon".
Just when every journalist packs up for the weekend.
But anyway, it's not just a "China issue". The same is happening in the US. IBM is about to lose some big contracts with the US government (one of them worth about a billion dollars). The following new article places some emphasis on IBM when it quotes IBM's official face-saving response to the news: “For decades, IBM has been advocating the use of technology to help U.S. federal agencies streamline operations, increase efficiency and deliver better return on taxpayer dollars.” [an IBM spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW in a statement.] “Today, IBM supports the modernization and delivery of mission critical federal services and systems, from processing veteran health claims more quickly, to enabling a more efficient digital taxpayer experience. We are proud of this and our additional work across the U.S. government and are committed to helping agencies become more efficient and deliver better results for the American public.”
How much more boot-licking need we expect?
The same site or network (Nextgov/FCW) has also just revealed that "IBM contract for overseas cyber assistance canned amid USAID shutdown". To quote:
A $95 million IBM contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development focused on bolstering cybersecurity posture for a slew of allied European and Eurasian countries has been cancelled as the Trump administration has ordered the humanitarian aid agency to end most of its programs.The five-year USAID contract, which Nextgov/FCW has previously reported on, tasked IBM to deploy its cybersecurity staff to allies with USAID presence — including Albania, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and others — to help build out security operations centers, train security practitioners and enhance critical infrastructure defenses across the region.
The company confirmed Thursday the contract was terminated but did not provide further details. The status of overseas cybersecurity staff delegated under the contract’s terms was not immediately known.
Less revenue for IBM will mean more layoffs and cheapening of existing workforces, including Red Hat's. Maybe some diversity programs can help IBM recruit slaves or grossly-underpaid staff. █