IBM May Well Be Laying Off Over 13,500 and Up to 27,000 Staff This Week When It Says "Single-Digit Percentage of Our Global Workforce"
In recent minutes:
This week's coverage of IBM layoffs is superficial and surprisingly shallow, even outright misleading*. Based on what little IBM told the media in the form of an official, formal statement, and to quote an article from 3 hours ago**, "cuts between one and five percent would equate to anywhere from 2,700 to over 13,500 on the higher end of the scale."
27,000 layoffs would also be within the range of single-digit (9.9%).
This was an hour ago:
Remember: At IBM, Relocation Means Layoffs (Downsizing)
It's not yet possible to know how many people IBM gets rid of. Many just "leave" and say "last day" after being pushed out [1, 2]. IBM isn't even done yet.
The statement made by IBM creates more doubt and raises more questions than it answers; intentionally so. The statement it made leaves a wide range of 2,700-27,000. If in Ontario alone ~500 are disposed of, then how many in all of Canada, all of north America, and the whole world? If one extrapolates assuming a homogeneous distribution for manpower redundancies, the total could well be north of 10,000 globally. █
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* A lot of the so-called 'press' framed the layoffs as an "AI" thing. "Everyone i know that was laid off was not laid off because of ai, it was because of offshoring," somebody said 3 hours ago. Another person chimed in: "you are 110% right ! not only that, it was clear that despite IBM saying that the layoff was due to it's "new " focus on software and AI-driven services, a lot of IBM employees in AI and software development got laid off too. It is all about giving Comrade Alvind a bigger retirement and bonus package in January 2026. And big bonuses for his Pipmunks. AI is just a convenient excuse for the media to report."
** The key part is highlighted below:
