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Layoffs at IBM Watson Health Spark Concerns

May 31, 2018

ibm watson

IBM has laid off approximately 50 to 70 percent of staff this week in its Watson Health division, according to inside sources.

The axe, we’re told, is largely falling on IBMers within companies the IT goliath has taken over in the past few years to augment Watson‘s credentials in the health industry. These include medical data biz Truven, which was acquired in 2016 for $2.6bn, medical imaging firm Merge, bought in 2015 for $1bn, and healthcare management business Phytel, also snapped up in 2015.

Yesterday and today, staff were let go at IBM’s offices in Dallas, Texas, as well as in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado, in the US, and elsewhere, it is claimed. A spokesperson for Big Blue was not available for comment.

“Wanted to share anonymously a massive layoff in Watson Health, potentially limited to provider acquisitions – Phytel, Explorys, Truven,” a source claimed in a message passed to The Register by Lee Conrad, a former employee and union coordinator who today runs the Watching IBM Facebook page.

“They are laying off 50 to 70 per cent of staff. Not sure about total affected since there’s no transparency, but our Dallas office has 230 people.”

Read More at the Source: IBM’s Watson Health wing left looking poorly after ‘massive’ layoffs • The Register


By: Iain Thomson

 

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