IBM Israel Ltd. is firing 100 of its 2,000 employees. The employees who were informed that they are losing their jobs work in sales and marketing.
The extent of the layoffs is not large in terms of IBM Corporation's (NYSE: IBM) size, but it is unusual, and is part of the company's effort to rebalance its workforce as its CFO put it in a conference call in late April.
IBM Israel, run by general manager Ricky Kaplan, has been outsourcing overseas many administrative activities, resulting in a slow but steady loss of jobs. IBM Corporation, which focuses on profits because of its lack of growth, is constantly streamlining. The layoffs in Israel are apparently a pick-up in the pace of these developments.
IBM Corporation is usually very cagey about the number of workers who will be fired as part of layoffs. The company, which has 430,000 employees worldwide, recently said that it will spend $1 billion in the second quarter on cutbacks to improve its financial performance.
IBM Israel said in response, "The change is an important part of IBM's activity and business model. The company regularly adjusts its mix of needed skills. We do not disclose details of its plans on this issue."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 2, 2013
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