IBM announces job openings amid reports of layoffs

More changes are coming to IBM Corp.

As reports of layoffs throughout the company trickle in, IBM said in a statement to the Journal Monday it has "more than 25,000 open positions," as it continues its massive transition to focus much of its business to its cloud and analytics departments.

While it is not known to what extent Poughkeepsie will be impacted, the Wall Street Journal reported Poughkeepsie was included in the layoffs. Analytics and Analytics Technical sales are two departments that have been impacted locally, according to one employee who requested to remain anonymous because they are still with the company.

IBM declined to answer questions about the extent of the local impact from either the layoffs or the job openings.

IBM revenues buoyed by cloud services, but down again

IBM watchdog Facebook page Watching IBM has dozens of reports of employee layoffs throughout the U.S. in the past few days.

"On May 19, IBM started a second round of job cuts in the US," said Lee Conrad, who manages the Facebook page. "Workers from Global Technology Services division as well as other business units reported to the Watching IBM Facebook page that they were being notified of their jobs being terminated. Many also reported that their work is being moved offshore."

In a statement to the Journal, IBM said, "IBM is aggressively transforming its business to lead in a new era of cognitive and cloud computing. To this end, IBM currently has more than 25,000 open positions, many in these key skills areas. If we meet our hiring targets, we expect our employee numbers to be roughly the same at year-end as they were in 2015."

In April, IBM Corp. reported another drop in revenue — the 16th straight quarter. IBM is shifting its focus to technology such as cloud and analytics in the hopes those investments will eventually buoy declining revenues.

Last week, IBM said it plans to vacate its 730-acre Somers campus by March, moving employees to its North Castle facility. More than 3,000 employees were based in the Somers campus during its peak, but the number has dwindled over the years.

IBM to close its Somers campus

Amanda J. Purcell: apurcell@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4807; Twitter: @amandajpurcell