IBM cuts 1500 Oz jobs - will Kiwis benefit?

IBM Australia looks set to cut as many as 1,500 jobs, a move which has been predicted to send offshore work across the Tasman to New Zealand.

Reports from Fairfax Media suggests anywhere between 1,200 to 1,500 staff will be affected, with redundancies expected as early as this year from the 10,000+ Australian workforce.

As a result of the job losses, speculation has increased that the work will be moved offshore - as close as New Zealand but also as far as India and China.

Alliance@IBM, an IBM employee organisation forum, also claims a further 1,300 staff have been shown the door in America, as part of an estimated US$1 billion restructuring program.

In an anonymous post on the website, one user believed to be from the US went to town on the company, ranting:

"IBM executives have shown over the last few years they do not value the employee as the "asset" we once were called but now openly label us as a "resource" to be used/abused/intimidated/harassed and eventually thrown away EVEN when there is dire need for your skills.

"With each successive round of layoffs/firings the true depths of their insanity deepens.

"The executives directing this company further into oblivion have shown they are either clueless on how to grow the business or just to lazy to do the hard work needed to make any valuable business growth."

IBM NZ response

"Change is constant in the technology industry and transformation is an essential feature of our business model," a company spokesperson says.

"Consequently, some level of workforce remix is a constant requirement for our business.

"Given the competitive nature of our industry, we do not publicly discuss the details of staffing plans."

What do you make of the job losses? Will the work head to New Zealand? Tell us your thoughts below