IBM To Cut Thousands of Roles in Focus on Software Growth (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0179965242
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/11/04/1932232/ibm-to-cut-thousands-of-roles-in-focus-on-software-growth
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/ibm-cut-thousands-roles-focus-software-growth-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-11-04/
> "We routinely review our workforce through this lens and at times rebalance accordingly," Bloomberg quoted a company spokesperson saying. "In the fourth quarter we are executing an action that will impact a low single-digit percentage of our global workforce."
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/ibm-cut-thousands-roles-focus-software-growth-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-11-04/
Watson (Score:2)
How did Watson work out for you, IBM?
This Quarter! (Score:2)
Happy holidays, IBMers!
I can't remember (Score:4, Interesting)
the last time I read an article about IBM that didn't involve their quarterly 30K person lay-offs. I'm surprised there's anyone left there, at all.
What does this company actually do?
Re: I can't remember (Score:2)
Hires people for three months, from what I can tell. I also can't remember when I didn't hear about a 10k+ sized layoff at IBM.
Re: (Score:2)
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] I wasn't sure either, but it looks like research / IP in some technologies newer than I'd have guessed so they may still be pushing the envelope in some ways but presumably their customers are other companies rather than the public.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM
Re: (Score:2)
The mainframe and AS/400 (IBM i) divisions are still kicking.
Re: (Score:2)
Mostly support for mainframes that they no longer sell, I think. The Pentagram for example has mainframes so old that they literally have to buy replacement parts on eBay.
Re: (Score:2)
They still sell mainframes to large banks and other dinosaur financial institutions that haven't figured out how to migrate their operations to modern metal. Google IBM Z series mainframes. And they monetized open source software by buying redhat. IBM would probably be out of business decades ago if its wasn't for mainframes and redhat.
Re:I can't remember (Score:4, Insightful)
Are you actually trying to claim IBM mainframes are not "modern metal"? You haven't got a clue. And over half of mainframe workload is now 'non-traditional' so that 'haven't figured out how to migrate' line is just more nonsense.
Chop Chop Chop (Score:3)
The whittling away of white collar jobs is going to have profound implications.
These white collar jobs pay the bulk of the taxes as well as medicare and social security trust fund payments.
At some point the government isn't going to be getting the revenue it needs to continue operating at its current level.
This means either the government will have to shrink its budgets, or find a way to tax AI and automation so that it continues to operate at the level it wants to operate at.
Either way the government will have to do something to prevent its revenue stream from diminishing.
Automation robot per-operation tax and AI token tax anyone?
Re: (Score:3)
> This means either the government will have to shrink its budgets, or find a way to tax AI and automation so that it continues to operate at the level it wants to operate at.
Correct and more the latter, austerity as policy has a pretty bad track record out in the world. The money exists, production is getting more efficient, profits are higher than ever, people are making it just have to get it.
Or the real big brain answer is go full [1]Georgist [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism
Re: (Score:2)
Time to value blue collar work over white collar. Everything around you was built by the blue collars while white collars sit on their ass ordering it to be done.
The reason it is upside down is because white collars set the wages, so of course theirs is valued more. Newsflash: anyone can sit on their ass all day.
They already fired every American except in sales (Score:2)
So this isn't really going to hit all that hard unless they're cutting sales which would be madness.
That said I have literally had problems with prescriptions because the company that makes a drug I'm on fired all their sales people and they're not keeping up with the doctors to make sure they are renewing scripts.
And one of the major credit card processors, Fiserve,. Just took a 44% hit to their stock because they aren't meeting there goals.
The former CEO who now works for Trump to reform and c
Re: (Score:2)
If I were to tell you that these were mostly H-1B visa holders being cut would you change your tune and be incredibly happy since you're one of the posters here who seems to have a particularly fiery passion against them?
DB[much higher number by now] (Score:2)
"Shrinking for Growth", again. At this point, IBM's only product is the momentum they built up in the 20th century. Lucky for management that's a hell of a lot of momentum.
They haven't run out of people to fire yet? (Score:3)
Or maybe they're re-firing people a second and third time, for good measure.
stock price (Score:2)
Investors always reward cutting staff with raising stock prices. And, since CEO pay is largely determined by stock price...
In English: Roles means Jobs (Score:1)
Cut Roles means Layoff.
Layoff means Fire
That just sounds like nonsense (Score:3)
Can anybody decode what they mean?
Re: (Score:2)
Management wants to lower the head count, todo list Announcement (Check) ...
Re: (Score:3)
So basically "bullshit...bullshit...firing people...bullshit....bullshit"? That would fit, agreed.
IBM is always "in layoffs" (Score:2)
Firing people randomly has been sport there [1]for decades [warntracker.com].
[1] https://www.warntracker.com/company/ibm