IBM Singing the Big Blues?

Sounds like there may be ugly news in the offing for IBM employees. According to comments posted to an IBM employee site operated by the Communications Workers of America, the company may announce as many as 16,000 layoffs before the end of the month. Were that to happen, approximately four percent of IBM’s global workforce would be released into the wild.

“My manager is involved in the layoff planning in our division (part of the technology group),” writes one commenter. “He told me the numbers in our division were going to be very large, a lot larger than what the other managers were expecting. He moved half of us onto projects with government funding commitments and thinks he can protect the people he has left, but he’s not sure. Nobody wants to fearmonger, but the layoffs are coming.”

Said another, “All divisions in IBM will be affected. Get all your ducks in a row. Time is running out.”

So what does IBM have to say about all this? Not much. “IBM does not comment on rumors and speculation,” said a company spokesperson. Perhaps that will change later this month when IBM releases its fourth-quarter 2008 earnings….

[Image credit: Someecards]