IBM and SAP joined the cadre of IT giants planning to layoffs thousands of their employees this year. Both companies reported their respective fourth-quarter earnings ended on Dec. 31.
The multinational technology corporation, IBM would lay off 3,900 employees 1.5 percent of its global workforce. On the other hand, SAP is planning to lay off 3,000 (2.5%) employees.
IBM chief financial officer James Kavanaugh has said the company remains committed to hiring for client-facing research and development.
IBM said the layoffs are related to the spinoff of its Kinderill business and a portion of AI unit Watson Health, which will take a $300 million charge in the January-March period.
As per a Reuters report, IBM also said that ‘the layoffs – related to the spinoff of its Kyndryl business and a part of AI unit Watson Health – will cause a $300 million charge in the January-March period.’
Vijay Sivarram, CEO, Quess IT Staffing said, “This is primarily a normalisation of the workforce happening right now due to the large-scale hiring that happened last year.”
“Reduced gross margin, higher indirect costs, and lower earnings led to cost-cutting and people reduction,” Vijay Sivarram added.
SAP Layoffs
SAP has a workforce of around 120,000 employees worldwide. The company is meaning to shed some 3,000 jobs. The company said it is planning to carry out a “targeted restructuring program” to “strengthen its core business”.
In 2023 January, 154 tech companies including Google reportedly laid off nearly 55,225 in just 21 days. Earlier in November Amazon announced that will be layoff 10,000 employees. However, the company further added 8,000 employees, and the total layoffs were announced as 18,000 employees.
Major Tech companies like Wipro, Microsoft, Salesforce, Cisco Systems Inc, and Microsoft have laid off more than 50,000 employees. The tech sector announced 97,171 job cuts in 2022, versus 12,975 in the previous year, according to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
