IBM expected to axe employees

In a move echoing firms such as HP and Hootsuite, IBM has decided to terminate some of its employees.

According to the Business Insider Singapore, in an alleged "massive" round of layoffs, IBM has handed out another batch of pink slips on Wednesday.

While the exact size of the layoffs are undetermined, the job cuts have been attributed to the ongoing changes to the firm’s workforce.

When approached by the Business Insider Singapore, the company refused to comment on the number of people affected by the job cuts, but confirms that "it is continuously shedding some workers while hiring others, and to report the financial impact, both in costs and savings."

In 2015, IBM's CEO Ginni Rometty reported that the firm added 70,000 people - including a woman who had launched a social media campaign for IBM to hire her as the “world’s oldest intern.”

However, according to research done by Business Insider Singapore, it "chopped slightly more than 70,000 people, too", resulting in an equal number of people hired and fired.

The firm reportedly ended 2015 "with a worldwide headcount of 377,757" - a workforce churn of 18%.

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To make things worse for its employees, the firm has "severely cut severance pay to one month total, no matter how many years of service the employee worked", as several workers have confirmed to a Facebook page - “Watching IBM.”

"The page is maintained by Lee Conrad, the man who ran a former IBM employee watchdog organization called Alliance at IBM. He retired the Alliance organisation last year, but through Facebook he’s still posting information from workers about layoffs and other working conditions at IBM," the Business Insider Singapore stated.

The severance cut was shared with employees via a document called "About Your Benefits - Separation" in January this year.

The document stated that IBM's Individual Separation Allowance Plan (ISAP) is for providing "transitional assistance to regular employees" when their employment has been terminated - including if they are fired for performance issues or when they are laid off.

The document stated, "The separation allowance payment available under the Individual Separation Allowance Plan, regardless of the circumstance under which ISAP is offered, is one month of pay.”

READ MORE: Malaysia’s PETRONAS set to terminate 1,000 jobs

In its previous round of layoffs, "IBM employees could expect a severance package that paid them based on how many years they worked. According to Conrad, that pay used to be up to 23 weeks," Business Insider Singapore stated.

An IBM official confirmed to Business Insider Singapore that jobs will continue to be cut in some departments while there will be hiring in others.

“IBM is aggressively transforming its business to lead in a new era of cognitive and cloud computing. This includes remixing skills to meet client requirements. To this end, IBM hired more than 70,000 professionals in 2015, many in these key skills areas, and currently has more than 25,000 open positions,” stated an IBM spokesperson.

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