IBM is preparing for a massive round of layoffs in Europe, impacting some 10,000 employees.
According to Bloomberg, IBM announced the layoffs earlier in November in a meeting with labor representatives. The source remained anonymous, as the talks are still private.
“Our staffing decisions are made to provide the best support to our customers in adopting an open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities,” an IBM spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “We also continue to make significant investments in training and skills development for IBMers to best meet the needs of our customers.”
The bulk of the cuts are in IBM’s legacy business. The company announced in October it is planning on splitting the company in two. The core will continue under the IBM name and focus on hybrid cloud and AI, while the legacy business will be spun off into a separate company.
It appears the UK and Germany will be hardest hit, with Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovakia also slated to experience some layoffs as well.