In a shock announcement, IBM Australia Ltd says that it has been hit so hard by the local recession that it wants to cut its workforce by a swingeing 25% in February. The reduction, of 1,000 positions, follows a reorganisation that cost 80 jobs earlier this year. The company says that the move was forced on it by a 25% decline in the Australian market this year. It adds that the personal computer manufacturing plant in Wangaratta, Victoria will not be affected. Employees will be offered voluntary redunancy terms, but core staff within each skill group will be retained. In October, IBM New Zealand made an even more drastic cut: the reduction was put at 30% at the time (CI No 1,785), but it is now said that the actual cut was 50%, to just over 300.
