IBM fired as many as 1,00,000 employees in recent years in an 'effort to boost its appeal to millennials', says lawsuit

American multinational information technology company International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has reportedly fired as many as 1,00,000 employees in the last few years, according to a lawsuit filed by a senior employee. According to a deposition from a former vice president of the company, IBM fired employees in an effort to boost its appeal to millennials and make it appear to be as “cool” and “trendy” as Amazon and Google, Bloomberg reported. “We have reinvented IBM in the past five years to target higher-value opportunities for our clients. The company hires 50,000 employees each year,” IBM was quoted as saying in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_3962121” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Bloomberg report added that the number of IBM employees has fallen to its lowest point in six years, with 3,50,600 global workers at the end of 2018. In the first week of June, IBM cut about 2,000 jobs in a round of layoffs, Wall Street Journal reported. Several technology firms made staff cuts this year, including Symantec Corp and Oracle Corp. Last month, IBM closed its $34 billion acquisition of software company Red Hat Inc, as it looks to ramp up its cloud computing business. Underscoring the drive into high-margin businesses, IBM in October agreed to buy Red Hat, the company’s biggest acquisition in its more than 100-year history. Ginni Rometty, IBM chief executive since 2012, has steered the company toward faster-growing segments such as cloud, software and services and away from traditional hardware products, but not without a bumpy journey. The newer areas of focus have sometimes underwhelmed investors. IBM has faced years of revenue declines as it transitions from its legacy computer hardware business into new technology products and services.