알파경제 - Amid Intensified US-China Competition, IBM Cuts 1,000 Employees at Chinese Research Facility

(Photo= Yonhap news)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] As big tech companies adjust their operations in mainland China amid escalating US-China competition, IBM has announced it will lay off more than 1,000 employees.

According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 6th, IBM is halting its research and development (R&D) activities in China and will be terminating over 1,000 employees. The report also noted that IBM's R&D staff in China discovered last weekend that they were unable to access the company's internal systems.

Posts by IBM employees on Chinese social media platforms revealed that the company’s headquarters announced the layoffs during an internal meeting that morning.

In an email to SCMP, IBM stated, "IBM adjusts its operations as needed to provide the best service to customers, and these changes will not affect our ability to support our clients in Greater China." However, the company did not provide specific details about the layoffs.

Previously, IBM's China division reduced its workforce by 3,900 employees in January of last year. By the end of the same year, the company had halted hiring for positions that would be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI), and some departments had implemented up to an 80% reduction in workforce, according to reports from March.

알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)