IBM jobs cuts hit; Hudson Valley numbers unclear

A number of IBMers are trying on the new identity of "ex-IBMers" today as the company's 2014 downsizing has come to pass.

IBM won't say how many people. And you can't count it up because the company has, for the first time in years, eliminated a document that was part of packages given to terminated employees, claiming "privacy," which a workers' group leader called "absurd."

The cuts hit Dutchess County and sites across the United States, say people who spoke with the Poughkeepsie Journal or with the workers' group, Alliance@IBM. But cuts appeared to be relatively light compared with those of 2013. There were reports from both Poughkeepsie and East Fishkill, as well as IBM sites elsewhere in the state.

A deal between IBM and New York state may have had some protective effect, but not a complete one.

A state official had said on condition of anonymity that the state's understanding was that New York would have no cuts. IBM wouldn't say that was the case.

But spokesman Doug Shelton said in an email that "if there are IBMers based in N.Y. telling you they have been notified today, you should trust them."

IBM was saying little about the layoffs. "As reported in our recent earnings briefing, IBM continues to rebalance its workforce to meet the changing requirements of its clients, and to pioneer new, high-value segments of the (information technology) industry," Shelton said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's deal, announced Monday in Buffalo, has the state investing $55 million to set up a technology center with IBM as the first tenant and one that will bring an eventual 500 jobs. Cuomo said IBM committed itself to "maintain 3,100 high-tech jobs in the Hudson Valley and surrounding areas," increasing its minimum jobs commitment to the state by 750 jobs.

It calls on the company to "maintain 2,350 jobs along with 750 jobs in its semiconductor plants and related fields in Dutchess County ... as well as Albany and Yorktown Heights," according to Cuomo's press release.

But several sources told the Poughkeepsie Journal that there were cuts Thursday at Poughkeepsie, and one source, who requested anonymity, said she had communications involving nine employees. Another source said he had knowledge of four people in East Fishkill, a semiconductor chip site.

Two parties saying they were at Yorktown Heights, a research facility in Westchester County, told of layoffs there.

Three other Poughkeepsie reports were relayed by Lee Conrad, national organizer of the Alliance@IBM, a workers' union-backed group based in Endicott, Broome County, where cuts were also occurring, he said.

Reports have come in from Rochester, Minn., and Essex Junction, Vt., near Burlington, as well as Dubuque, Iowa; Columbia, Mo.; Tucson, Ariz.; the Littleton, Mass., Lotus group; Tulsa, Okla.; and Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

In Vermont, the Burlington Free Press reported that Gov. Peter Shumlin confirmed a downsizing that was expected to be about one-third the size of last year's 419-person cutback, which would equal about 140.

This year's "resource action" paperwork was different. IBM omitted a key document from the sheaf given to employees who were being terminated, one that would appear to be required under the federal Older Workers Benefits Protection Act, a 1990 amendment to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

That document is made up by the employer for each "decisional unit," or company segment where a broad layoff is taking place, and tells how many people were selected for the cut and how many were not selected. No names are in it, but there are job titles, and for each title, a count of people and what their ages are.

The act is intended to ensure fair treatment of workers over age 40.

IBM's Shelton confirmed that no such document was included in the packets. "IBM is addressing concerns raised by employees that the age/title information IBM previously provided infringed on employee privacy. Based on this privacy concern, IBM has removed that data from packets," he said.

Conrad, at the Alliance@IBM, said that was "absurd."

"This is just another attempt by IBM to hide the number of job cuts taking place and the continued destruction of the IBM employee population in the U.S.," he said. "Federal and state governments should look into this and demand transparency or tell IBM no more tax breaks."

A spokeswoman at the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, Justine Lisser, said the law is still on the books. Where there is a group termination and a legal waiver to be signed, she said companies are required to inform employees of the detailed age-related data. But she was not able to comment on a particular company.

Craig Wolf: 845-437-4815; cwolf@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @craigwolfPJ