IBM Layoffs 2025: AI Hype vs. Job Cuts – What Reddit is Saying

IBM's "AI Pivot" Is Just a Fancy Name for Firing People

IBM, huh? Still kicking around after all these years. And what's the headline this week? Oh, right, "IBM is laying off thousands of employees." Again. Color me shocked. IBM Is Laying Off Thousands of Employees

The "Rebalancing" Act: Same Old Song, Different Verse

Let's be real: this ain't about "rebalancing." It's about cutting costs and chasing the next shiny object – in this case, AI. They call it "aligning the workforce with changing market demand." I call it corporate buzzword bingo.

IBM's spokesperson told Bloomberg that they "routinely review our workforce." Yeah, I bet they do. Probably over a few rounds of golf, deciding who gets the axe this quarter. A "low single-digit percentage" of the global workforce, they say. Which, when you're talking about 270,000 employees, translates to thousands of actual human beings losing their jobs. But hey, as long as IBM's stock price stays afloat, who cares, right?

And get this: they're giving these folks 30 days to find a new gig within the company, or it's "hasta la vista, baby," plus a few months of severance. As if finding a comparable position in a month is even remotely realistic. It's a Hunger Games for the cubicle set.

AI: The Scapegoat of the Future?

Now, here's where it gets interesting – or, you know, predictable. IBM is framing these layoffs as a strategic pivot toward AI consulting and software. Because apparently, the only way to embrace the future is to fire a bunch of people.

According to The New York Times, IBM's CFO, Jim Kavanaugh, claimed that more companies are adopting AI. Groundbreaking stuff, Jim. And because of this surge in AI interest, IBM’s AI bookings are up to $9.5 billion. That's a lot of zeroes.

So, let me get this straight: IBM is raking in cash from AI, and their solution is to… fire people? Maybe I'm missing something here, but shouldn't a booming business hire more employees? Or is this just a way to replace experienced (read: expensive) workers with cheaper, AI-trained newbies?

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is all smiles, talking about the "strength" of IBM's AI business. I wonder how strong those laid-off employees feel right now.

And they're not alone, offcourse. Amazon canned 14,000 corporate roles, and Oracle axed hundreds in Washington state. It's an industry-wide trend, a race to the bottom disguised as innovation.

The "Human" Cost of Innovation

Look, I'm not anti-AI. I'm just anti-bullshit. This whole narrative of "we're innovating, so people gotta go" is a crock. What happens to the people who dedicated years – decades, even – to IBM? Are they just supposed to retrain as AI engineers overnight?

IBM says its US headcount will remain "flat year over year." Translation: they'll fire people in one department and hire new ones in another, probably paying them less and working them harder. It's the circle of corporate life.

I saw a post on LinkedIn the other day from some clueless HR manager, talking about "embracing change" and "finding new opportunities." Give me a break. These are real people with mortgages, families, and lives that are being upended.

Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here. Maybe I'm just a dinosaur clinging to the past, while the rest of the world embraces the glorious AI future. But something tells me this "AI revolution" is going to leave a lot of casualties in its wake.

This Ain't Progress, It's Just Greed