IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) is all set to lay off about 5,000 U.S. employees in a new round of job cuts. .The move shows a sign of IBM's aggressiveness in keeping its profits up in recession time when there is downfall in the earning of other technology companies. An IBM manager said that the cuts will come from the services division and workers will be informed on Thursday (26 March 2009). The person spoke off the record as he was not authorized to discuss the plan.
 
The company has denied to give a clear picture of how many jobs it has cut so far this year, but said that it was making "structural changes" in order to reduce spending and improve productivity. About 4 percent of IBM's U.S.-based work force, which totaled 115,000 at the end of 2008, is going to be affected because of these job cuts.
 
When compared to many other tech companies that have recently announced job cuts, IBM stood above by being more profitable despite the recession. The cost-cutting, global footprint, and focus on services and software, which are often more beneficial than hardware, are the reasons for IBM’s net income being up 18 percent last year to $12.3 billion. Even though it has fared better than many rivals, IBM shares fell 0.42 percent to close at $97.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.