IBM layoffs may impact Rochester facility
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Cuts to the IBM workforce are reportedly affecting employees at the Rochester facility.
While officials won't comment on the layoffs, the company has slashed hundreds of jobs across a number of divisions in the U.S. this week.
Documents submitted to the Alliance@IBM, a labor union at IBM, indicate around 1,600 people have been notified their jobs were terminated.
Lee Conrad is the national coordinator for the Alliance. He said workers have been telling him the cuts are a result of moving jobs out of the country.
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"We've gotten reports from IBM employees from around the countries who have been telling us that their jobs are going to Argentina, Brazil, India, you know, lots of places around the world," Conrad said. "It's clear to us; IBM is abandoning the U.S. workforce.
"The big problem is that people cannot find jobs in their field anymore because it's not just IBM that's slashing jobs and moving work offshore. It's other companies as well."
Conrad said some workers have reported having to train their replacements before they were laid off.
IBM has nearly 400,000 workers worldwide, with about 4,000 employees in Rochester.