Recently, “IBM China” revoked the access rights of employees in research and testing positions in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, and other cities, affecting thousands of people and sparking speculation about layoffs.
On August 24, according to the mainland media “Jiemian News,” multiple employees of “IBM China” revealed that the company had closed the access rights of employees in research and testing positions on Friday night (August 23), leading to market speculation about mass layoffs at “IBM China.”
A laboratory technician mentioned that before the access rights were revoked, employees were working as usual, with no forewarning or “signals.” Some technicians were even working overtime. Currently, these employees have been removed from the product group of communication software and cannot log into the company intranet via VPN (Virtual Private Network) but can still access emails.
The report stated that “IBM China” has multiple subsidiaries, and the employees whose access rights were revoked this time belong to IBMV. IBMV includes CDL (IBM China Development Center) and CSL (IBM China System Center), mainly responsible for research and testing.
The interviewed employees mentioned that, to their knowledge, access rights of research and testing position employees across the country, including in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, were revoked, involving approximately over a thousand people; however, after-sales and consulting departments still hold access rights as usual. The company has notified employees whose access rights were revoked to have discussions with the company and participate in online meetings on next Monday (August 26).
Several mainland media outlets have sought confirmation from “IBM China,” but the company has not yet responded.
In the past two years, IBM has carried out multiple rounds of layoffs globally. In January 2023, IBM announced a layoff of 3900 people, and in the second half of 2023, IBM announced a recruitment freeze, planning to replace nearly 8000 job positions with artificial intelligence.
The report mentioned that there have also been layoffs in “IBM China” in the past year. An internal employee mentioned that last year, a product line in the development center of the company was trimmed, and some employees received layoff notices in March this year, resigning at the end of July.
Amidst the continued economic downturn in China, there were previous market reports that Microsoft would close all physical stores in mainland China and only retain the official online store and the flagship store on JD.com. A Microsoft spokesperson responded on July 1st, stating that Microsoft has decided to integrate its channels in the mainland China market, and customers can still obtain Microsoft’s comprehensive consumer products and services through retail partners and Microsoft.com.