IBM ‘To Cut’ UK Research Jobs

IBM has confirmed it is planning staff changes at its research and development operations across the UK, following a report that it is planning significant job cuts.

The company is planning to cut about 123 of 900 staff at development laboratories in the UK, according to a report by The Register.

Revenue decline

IBM confirmed it has begun a consultation process with groups of employee representatives ahead of planned staffing changes, but didn’t give further details. The company said it continues to invest in cutting-edge skills.

The job cuts will involve no voluntary redundancies, and staff leaving the company will be given only the minimum in compensation, according to the report, which cited unnamed sources within the company.

IBM has developed technology in the UK since the 1950s in locations including Hursley House, the 18th-century mansion in which it established IBM Hursley in 1958, as well as in other centres around the country.

Early last year IBM was rumoured to be planning to cut more than 100,000 jobs, the largest-ever round of staff cuts in its history, in the face of ongoing revenue declines. IBM denied at the time that it was planning cuts on such a large scale, saying instead it would shed a few thousand staff.

At the time the company highlighted the creation of up to 300 jobs in Leicestershire over the next three years, with the launch of a services centre in the city.

IBM has been concentrating on growth areas such as cloud services and large-scale data analytics while selling off slower-growing units such as its low-end server business, but nevertheless has recorded 15 consecutive quarters of declining revenues.

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