According to TheRegister.com, IBM this week began notifying several thousand employees they’ll be laid off through Resource Action notifications that give staff 30 days to find new positions internally. Sources indicate the cuts target about 45% of IBM’s US infrastructure group and over 50% of its US Cloud organization under SVP Ric Lewis. The company reported $1.7 billion in Q3 2025 profits on $16.3 billion revenue, with infrastructure revenue up 17% to $3.6 billion. An IBM spokesperson told Bloomberg this affects a “low single-digit percentage” of their global workforce, which would mean 2,700 to 5,400 jobs given their 270,300 total employees. Meanwhile, IBM currently lists 2,840 job openings in India versus just 376 in the US.
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Profit-pain paradox
Here’s what’s really striking about these cuts. IBM’s infrastructure business isn’t failing – it’s actually growing revenue by 17% year-over-year with solid 57.2% gross margins. So why the bloodbath? Basically, this looks like classic corporate restructuring where profitable but slower-growing units get squeezed to fund investments in sexier areas like AI and hybrid cloud. The company’s chasing margins over market share, and American infrastructure jobs are apparently collateral damage.
Offshoring acceleration
Look at those job opening numbers again. 2,840 positions in India versus 376 in the US tells you everything you need to know about where IBM sees its future workforce. Employees have been complaining about this trend for years, but the current ratio of nearly 8:1 in favor of India suggests the offshoring strategy is accelerating. And it’s not just about cost savings – IBM’s building its talent base where it sees future growth markets.
Human toll
The real story here isn’t in the corporate statements – it’s on forums like The Layoff and Reddit where anonymous IBMers are sharing their experiences. One current employee described feeling “exhausted from the specter of layoffs and RAs.” The 30-day internal job search window sounds generous until you realize most people won’t find positions. It’s basically a slow-motion firing with extra steps.
Bigger picture
IBM’s not alone here – Amazon and Oracle have been cutting too. But IBM’s situation feels different because they’re trimming while posting decent numbers. This suggests we’re seeing a fundamental shift in how tech giants view their workforce strategies. They’re not just reacting to economic conditions anymore – they’re proactively reshaping their global footprint for the next decade. The question is whether this relentless focus on efficiency and offshoring will ultimately hurt their ability to innovate in competitive markets. You can’t offshore everything and expect to maintain technological leadership.
