IBM layoffs to touch 16,000

IBM layoffs may touch 16,000 by the year end, claims employee group Alliance@IBM. In a news report, Alliance said that it has counted about 184 employees who have been laid off in the most recent round of cuts, based on employee information packets it received so far. However, it believes the number exceeds that, according to Lee Conrad, the union's national coordinator.

Commenting on the layoffs, an IBM spokesperson reportedly said in a note that IBM is constantly managing resources as client demands evolve across a base of nearly 400,000 employees.

In January, Alliance@IBM estimated that as many as 16,000 employees may be cut by the end of 2009, and the group is standing by that figure. Based on its count so far, at least 10,000 job have already been cut.

IBM recently posted second-quarter earnings that trumped Wall Street expectations and raised its full-year profit forecast.

Recently Citi analyst Richard Gardner raised his target price on IBM to $135 from $125. In a research note, he said that IBM will save $500 million more this year than it had anticipated.

The company said in March it wanted to cut costs by $3 billion. But it has slashed expenses by $1.5 billion thus far, with another $2 billion coming later in the year.