Over 110,000 employees from around the world, or roughly 26 percent of its total roster, will be laid off by the end of February, in an IBM company reorganization code-named "Project Chrome," Forbes magazine reported Monday.
According to the magazine, IBM's US offices will be hit the hardest, but other locations in its global operations will also be affected by the cuts.
In the January 20 Q4 (fourth quarter 2014) report, IBM’s stated its net operating income fell 11 percent to $5.5 billion compared with $6.2 billion in the same quarter of 2013. Revenue from continuing operations fell 12 percent, an 11th consecutive quarterly decline.
IBM president Ginni Rometty said the company was making significant progress in what he euphemistically termed a "transformation" to reposition the IBM hardware portfolio for "higher value."
The company is developing new business units for its CAMSS (Cloud, Analytics, Mobile, Social and Security) support services, which include improved data transfer capabilities.
According to Forbes, laid off employees will not be considered for IBM's new business units.
In mid-2014, IBM partnered with Apple Inc. to develop a set of business applications and cloud services focused on “industry-specific solutions to business clients worldwide.”
According to Forbes, the layoff will purge valuable talent the magazine states is integral to any successful launch of new products by the company, and that IBM will incur further loses as a result.
