IBM A/NZ shed another 1000 staff last year

IBM Australia shed approximately 1000 staff during the 2017 financial year, continuing a trend of reductions as a result of its financial performance.

In May last year, iTnews' sister title CRN reported the A/NZ entity employed 5980 employees in 2016, which was down by 1803 staff from prior year’s 7783. 

In its 2017 report, IBM A/NZ reported employing 4913 staff, indicating a decrease of some 1000 staff from the year before.

More job cuts were flagged earlier this month, as IBM made dozens of staff from its analytics pre-sales and technical support areas redundant.

IBM A/NZ paid $18.1 million in termination benefits in 2017, down from $49 million paid across the group in 2016.

IBM Australia’s parent company, IBM A/NZ Holdings reported a similar decline in revenue, with revenue falling $416 million from $3.47 billion in 2016 to $3.05 billion in 2017.

IBM Australia is roughly 10 times larger than its New Zealand counterpart. 

In its consolidated income statement, IBM A/NZ reported a $6.25 million profit for the 2017 financial year, up from an $87.4 million loss in 2016.

However, after listing further expenses and other incomes, including a $10 million cost recorded as “translations of foreign operations to the presentation currency”, IBM A/NZ was left with a total comprehensive loss of $2.45 million for 2017, still showing recovery from its $82 million comprehensive loss in 2016.

In October last year, IBM Australia and New Zealand revealed David La Rose had been appointed as the company's new managing director, with Kerry Purcell departing for a senior leadership role with IBM Japan after two-and-a-half years in the job.

Purcell's departure followed a rocky year for IBM in Australia, particular facing intense criticism over its handling of the botched eCensus, which led to a "substantial" settlement with the Australian government.