IBM's latest layoffs include Kenexa employees in Lincoln, Nebraska, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. If the report is accurate, it includes a healthy dose of irony. Kenexa is a cloud-based talent management system that IBM acquired in 2012; it became part of IBM's Smarter Workforce branding in recent years. The platform also is an early poster child for IBM's transition toward SaaS-based recurring revenues.
Kenexa had nearly 400 people in Lincoln, Nebraska as of 2012, including some executive officers, software engineers, statisticians, consultants and service people, according to the Lincoln Star Journal. I don't know current head counts. Unconfirmed reports suggest IBM has cut about 20 employees from the Lincoln office in recent days.
ChannelE2E has not independently confirmed those reports, though IBM did confirm cuts in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
IBM Layoffs: 'Rebalancing' for Cloud Computing Services
During multiple rounds of layoffs over the past two years or so, IBM has repeatedly described the moves as a talent "rebalancing" -- away from classic hardware and software, and toward cognitive computing, mobile, security, and cloud services.
The $1.3 billion buyout of Kenexa in 2012 was part of that early rebalancing toward the cloud. Now, it appears, at least some of those employees have been let go.
