More layoffs at IBM

There has been another round of layoffs at IBM, according to media reports. According to a report in the Poughkeepsie Journal, IBM this week confirmed laying off a "small number" of employees.

IBM reportedly made the admission after the employee group Alliance@IBM told media that Big Blue had laid off about 200 US workers in its Global Business Services division.

"The IBM US employee population continues to shrink through job cuts and offshoring," Alliance@IBM national organizer Lee Conrad was quoted as saying.

The layoffs aren't nearly as severe as those revealed in March, when IBM reportedly laid off 5,000 US employees, while transferring many of the jobs to India.

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.