[mgaphysics]

Maybe my glass is half-full, but furloughing everybody for one week may have prevented them from cutting a number of individual positions completely. The thing that I find interesting is the statement about efforts being made to return the business model to sustainability: "new product launches, investments, acquisitions, changes to its go-to-market, new client centers of competency for Linux and flash memory".

Did I miss something or is this a list of things on any viable business model. I would have liked to see them make "out of the box" moves, but alas, this is the IBM we all know and love.

[iends]

IBM just have had a large series of layoffs. People have suggested IBM is trying to get more employees to quit.

[twistedpair]

If you get them to leave, you don't have to pay severance. It's a typical maneuver to shake the tree before the culling.

[seanmcdirmid]

Not to mention Google has a better office in the city, and hires a lot of the high-end IBM talent fairly quickly as it becomes available.

[wmf]

In what city? Poughkeepsie? Rochester MN? Austin?

[seanmcdirmid]

"The City"

As in, much of IBM's operations are still in the NYC area.

[chiph]

They'll have another layoff ("Resource Action" in IBM-speak) later this year. No later than mid-December, so they don't have to pay the 401(k) match (if you leave before the end of the year, they take back their match for the whole year).