IBM Lays Off 1,000 People, Closes One Office in China

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – IBM has laid off 1,000 employees in China. The layoffs are a consequence of the closure of IBM’s research and development (R&D) center in China.

The news of IBM’s mass layoffs in China was reported by Reuters, citing local media Yicai.

IBM has not commented on the news of the mass layoffs in China. According to Reuters, the decision came amid sluggish demand for hardware and other challenges in high-growth markets, including China.

Previously, IBM was reported to be cutting the number of employees in its marketing and communications division. The plan for massive layoffs is part of IBM’s strategy to use AI to carry out work that used to be done by humans. CNBC International reported that IBM’s Chief Communication Officer, Jonathan Adashek announced the reduction in the number of employees in a meeting with members of the marketing and communications team, which lasted for seven minutes.

This decision is in line with IBM’s plan to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) on a large scale. In December, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the company would “upskill employees to use AI” after announcing it would cut 8,000 jobs in the company to replace them with AI.

In a shareholders meeting in January last year, IBM said it had cut 3,900 jobs in the company.

“In our fourth quarter financial report, IBM disclosed plans to rebalance our workforce to a single-digit percentage of our global HR workforce, and we expect to end 2024 with the same headcount as we started 2024,” IBM said in a statement to CNBC International in March.

In addition to IBM, other tech companies are also continuing their mass layoff policies. So far this year, 204 tech companies have carried out mass layoffs with nearly 50,000 employees affected. Alphabet, Amazon, and Google are known to continue to reduce their mass layoff programs in early 2024.

SOURCE : CNBC INDONESIA