IBM in the US laid off 1573 employees, as part of a continuing overhaul of its services unit, the company says.
Most of the layoffs came from IBM's services unit and most from North America, said Edward Barbini, a company spokesman. The layoffs were part of a restructuring effort the company announced during its first quarter financial results presentation in April.
During the earnings calls, IBM chief financial officer Mark Loughridge said the company needed to address the cost of its services unit in North America. "We said then we were going to do this," Barbini says.
Based on past layoffs, about 20 percent of those laid off on Wednesday will find other jobs at IBM, Barbini said. At the end of 2006, IBM had about 355,000 employees.
According to union leaders, IBM laid off more than 1300 people from its global services division earlier this month.
