On Monday (26th), “IBM China” confirmed the complete shutdown of its research and development department in China, affecting over a thousand employees. Some employees have revealed that the severance pay for the layoffs is based on “N+3.” Last Friday night (23rd), access rights for over a thousand employees in the research and testing positions of “IBM China” in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, and other locations were suddenly revoked, leading to speculation about job cuts.
On August 26, Chinese media “Yicai” confirmed from the “IBM China” side that IBM will completely close its research and development department in China, involving more than 1,000 employees.
In a statement, “IBM China” stated: “IBM will adjust operations as needed to provide the best service to customers, and these changes will not affect our ability to support customers in the Greater China region.”
The statement mentioned that Chinese enterprises, especially private ones, are increasingly focusing on seizing opportunities brought by hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence technologies. IBM’s local strategic focus in China is to leverage its rich experience in technology and consulting to build teams with corresponding skills to help Chinese customers co-create solutions that meet their needs.
IBM emphasized that it will shift its focus to serving private enterprises in China and some multinational enterprises in China. According to “Yicai” report, IBM’s most important clients in the past were large state-owned enterprises in key sectors such as finance and energy.
The report stated that the closure of the research and development department this time involves the business of IBM China Development Center and IBM China System Center, mainly responsible for research and testing. China was once IBM’s most well-established market outside the United States, and this closure of the research and development department marks a significant turning point in IBM’s 40-year development history in China.
An employee who has worked at “IBM China” for 9 years told “The Paper” that the severance pay for this round of layoffs is based on “N+3.”
“N” represents the number of years the employee has worked at the company, and “+3” indicates that in addition to the base compensation, an additional three months’ salary will be paid as compensation. This type of compensation plan is relatively generous and helps alleviate the economic pressure faced by employees due to the layoffs.
Earlier on August 24, “Jiemian News” reported that several employees of “IBM China” revealed that on the evening of the 23rd, the company suddenly revoked access rights for employees in research and testing positions nationwide, including Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, affecting approximately over a thousand people, sparking speculation about layoffs.
At that time, some netizens posted that after their access rights were revoked, they received an email from the company announcing a meeting for all employees on Monday. After the meeting on the 26th, the netizen replied in a comment, saying, “The online meeting lasted for three minutes, and the research and development team was disbanded.”