IBM Swings The Big Blue Axe

"According to a recent article on the Associated Press, IBM is said to have cut thousands of jobs, without the company officially announcing any specific and official details. The layoffs are reported to be part of the company's ongoing plan to save costs amid the current low global economy.

"IBM is said to have cut approximately 4000 jobs (according to some reports) over the past week. The company's sales, software and hardware divisions are reported to have suffered from personnel reductions. The Armonk, N.Y-based company claims that the job cuts are just part of its ongoing efforts to monitor costs. However, it won't release any specific numbers, as it doesn't have to reveal the number of jobs it is cutting, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, which requires companies to disclose only “material” events. Even so, layoffs are reported at several of the company's locations, including Tucson, Ariz., San Jose, Calif., Rochester, Minn., Research Triangle Park, N.C., East Fishkill, N.Y., Austin, Texas, and Burlington, Vt..."

Source: Softpedia...

PC Makers: Sux 2 B Us

"Shrinking demand has taken a heavy toll on pc makers globally. The outlook for 2009 seems gloomier as US companies prepare for further tightening of IT budget amid deepening recession.

"Recently, Acer, the world's third largest PC maker, warned that its sales will decline in the fourth quarter, after previously forecasting a robust holiday season. The company expects fourth quarter revenue to slip 5% to 10% compared to the same period a year ago, due to `overall market situation.` The company said that motherboard shipments in fourth quarter plunged 20%, much worse than its own estimate of 10%."

More doom, gloom at iStockAnalyst...

If You Can't Beat 'Em...

Jobless techies turning to crime

"Impoverished techies and IT workers who have been made redundant will go rogue in 2009, selling corporate data and using crimeware, reports predict.

"The credit crunch will drive IT workers to increasingly use their skills to steal credit card data using phishing attacks and to abuse their privileged corporate computer access to sell off valuable financial and intellectual information, forensic experts have warned.

"Both PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and security vendor Finjan are forecasting that the recession will fuel a significant rise in insider fraud and cyber crime in 2009."

More at silicon.com...