USA’s IBM plans global job cuts... starting from Bengaluru
15 Feb 2014 12:10 AM GMT
‘The estimate of jobs cut globally is 15,000,’ International Coordinator at the Alliance@IBM (official IBM employees union) Lee Conrad said.
Last month, the US-based firm had said its top executives will forego their bonuses and the company will initiate a $1 billion restructuring programme in the first quarter (January-March) of 2014 as it grapples with declining sales of servers and storage systems.
Though the exact number of job cuts in each of the geographies is not clear, the impact could be huge in India as IBM has over one lakh employees in the country. Globally, IBM employs over 4 lakh people.
‘(There are) no number yet on India job cuts. We do not have a clear number of employees by location because IBM does not disclose that data,’ Conrad said adding that the IBM Global Union Alliance will be meeting soon to discuss its response.
When contacted, an IBM India spokesperson said: ‘As reported in our recent earnings briefing, IBM continues to rebalance its workforce to meet the changing requirements of its clients and to pioneer new, high value segments of the IT industry.’
The spokesperson further said: ‘To that end, IBM is positioning itself to lead in areas such as Cloud, Analytics and Cognitive Computing and investing in these priority areas.
For example, we have recently committed $1 billion to our new Watson unit and $1.2 billion to expand our Cloud footprint around the world.’
According to sources, over 50 employees at IBM's Systems Technology Group (STG) in Bangalore were handed pink slips on 12 February as part of its global 'Resource Action' or restructuring programme.
Meanwhile, Cabinet okays IBM and STMicro chip-making units
New Delhi: The Cabinet has approved two electronic chip manufacturing plants in the country to be set up by two groups, with players such as STMicroelectronics and IBM, for a total of Rs 63,410 crore.
One of the semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing plants will be set up by Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, with IBM and Tower Semiconductor of Israel as partners, an official statement said on Friday.
The other plant will be built by HSMC Technologies India Pvt in partnership with STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, and Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
The project by Jaiprakash Associates will cost Rs 34,399 crore and will be located along the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh. It will have a capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM). WSPM is a measure of the capacity of a chip factory and is equal to the number of fresh wafers introduced into the fabrication sequence each month.
The project by HSMC Technologies will cost Rs 29,013 crore and have a capacity of 40,000 WSPM. It will be located at Prantij in Gujarat. Letters of intent will be issued to the two consortia by 31 March and the final agreements are expected to be signed by August, according to the statement.
The Empowered Committee has been authorised to take all decisions to implement the projects, it added.
The proposed units will create direct employment for about 22,000 workers and indirect employment for about 1 lakh people and will boost the development of electronics system design and manufacturing in the country.
‘The semiconductor wafer fabrication units, when set up, will stimulate the flow of capital and technology, create employment opportunities, help higher value addition in electronic products manufactured in India, reduce dependence on imports and lead to innovation,’ it said. The government will provide incentives such as 25 per cent subsidy on capital expenditure and tax reimbursement, exemption from basic customs duty for non-covered capital items and 200 per cent deduction on expenditure on R&D.
Airtel starts 4G for Apple users in Bengaluru city
Bengaluru: Bharti Airtel, India largest private telecom operator, on Friday said that it has launched 4G mobile services for Apple iPhone 5s and 5c users in the city enabling high definition video streaming with zero buffering among other features. iPhone owners would be able to enjoy these services at 3G prices.
‘Now Airtel customers in Bengaluru on Apple iPhone 5s or 5c will be able to experience 4G on their mobile at the current 3G prices for internet browsing experience while on the move,’ Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
Customers have to change their existing SIM to a 4G SIM to enjoy 4G without any need to migrate. Customers on 2G/GPRS data plans/packs can opt for any of the 3G plans/packs available and enjoy
4G speeds, it added.
Last month, the US-based firm had said its top executives will forego their bonuses and the company will initiate a $1 billion restructuring programme in the first quarter (January-March) of 2014 as it grapples with declining sales of servers and storage systems.
Though the exact number of job cuts in each of the geographies is not clear, the impact could be huge in India as IBM has over one lakh employees in the country. Globally, IBM employs over 4 lakh people.
‘(There are) no number yet on India job cuts. We do not have a clear number of employees by location because IBM does not disclose that data,’ Conrad said adding that the IBM Global Union Alliance will be meeting soon to discuss its response.
When contacted, an IBM India spokesperson said: ‘As reported in our recent earnings briefing, IBM continues to rebalance its workforce to meet the changing requirements of its clients and to pioneer new, high value segments of the IT industry.’
The spokesperson further said: ‘To that end, IBM is positioning itself to lead in areas such as Cloud, Analytics and Cognitive Computing and investing in these priority areas.
For example, we have recently committed $1 billion to our new Watson unit and $1.2 billion to expand our Cloud footprint around the world.’
According to sources, over 50 employees at IBM's Systems Technology Group (STG) in Bangalore were handed pink slips on 12 February as part of its global 'Resource Action' or restructuring programme.
Meanwhile, Cabinet okays IBM and STMicro chip-making units
New Delhi: The Cabinet has approved two electronic chip manufacturing plants in the country to be set up by two groups, with players such as STMicroelectronics and IBM, for a total of Rs 63,410 crore.
One of the semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing plants will be set up by Jaiprakash Associates Ltd, with IBM and Tower Semiconductor of Israel as partners, an official statement said on Friday.
The other plant will be built by HSMC Technologies India Pvt in partnership with STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, and Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
The project by Jaiprakash Associates will cost Rs 34,399 crore and will be located along the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh. It will have a capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM). WSPM is a measure of the capacity of a chip factory and is equal to the number of fresh wafers introduced into the fabrication sequence each month.
The project by HSMC Technologies will cost Rs 29,013 crore and have a capacity of 40,000 WSPM. It will be located at Prantij in Gujarat. Letters of intent will be issued to the two consortia by 31 March and the final agreements are expected to be signed by August, according to the statement.
The Empowered Committee has been authorised to take all decisions to implement the projects, it added.
The proposed units will create direct employment for about 22,000 workers and indirect employment for about 1 lakh people and will boost the development of electronics system design and manufacturing in the country.
‘The semiconductor wafer fabrication units, when set up, will stimulate the flow of capital and technology, create employment opportunities, help higher value addition in electronic products manufactured in India, reduce dependence on imports and lead to innovation,’ it said. The government will provide incentives such as 25 per cent subsidy on capital expenditure and tax reimbursement, exemption from basic customs duty for non-covered capital items and 200 per cent deduction on expenditure on R&D.
Airtel starts 4G for Apple users in Bengaluru city
Bengaluru: Bharti Airtel, India largest private telecom operator, on Friday said that it has launched 4G mobile services for Apple iPhone 5s and 5c users in the city enabling high definition video streaming with zero buffering among other features. iPhone owners would be able to enjoy these services at 3G prices.
‘Now Airtel customers in Bengaluru on Apple iPhone 5s or 5c will be able to experience 4G on their mobile at the current 3G prices for internet browsing experience while on the move,’ Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
Customers have to change their existing SIM to a 4G SIM to enjoy 4G without any need to migrate. Customers on 2G/GPRS data plans/packs can opt for any of the 3G plans/packs available and enjoy
4G speeds, it added.
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