IBM (NYSE:IBM) has reportedly laid off 50% to 70% of the workforce at its Watson Health operation, primarily at recent acquisitions for which Big Blue paid at least $3.6B. The whisperer added IBM even looked at cutting its storage and POWER systems businesses loose, and that some of the cuts are to reduce overlaps between IBM's teams and those of recently acquired Red Hat. Reprints. Ben Hider/Getty Images. Even more widely, Watson’s business performance was less than optimal. Bloomberg emitted a report that quotes an unnamed IBMer reading from internal Slack messages that suggest the number of lost jobs could be in the thousands in the US alone, spanning five or more states. by Rick Smith — May 25, 2018 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – IBM is laying off employees in its high-profile Watson Health group, and workers in the … It must be said that IBM Watson has not delivered the results that IBM expected, thus raising the question “why did IBM Watson fail to generate significant profi ts?” Nearly three years after its launch, hospitals using Watson for Oncology said it was biased toward American treatments and struggled with learning different types of cancer. According to industry analysts, a critical element for secure hybrid multicloud environments is the storage infrastructure. Layoffs at Watson Health Reveal IBM’s Problem with AI Axed engineers say IBM isn’t always smart about artificial intelligence. IBM is swinging the axe on its staff, with significant numbers of employees not attached to the cloud being told their time at Big Blue is up. According to anonymous accounts submitted to the site Watching IBM, the cuts primarily affecting workers from three acquired companies: Phytel, Explorys, and Truven. IBM's Watson Health wing left looking poorly after 'massive' layoffs IBM has laid off approximately 50 and 70 per cent of staff this week in its Watson Health division, according to inside sources. Tag - IBM Watson Health Layoffs. Interested in LINKING to or REPRINTING this content? 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. Coupled with the company's failure to combine their newly acquired companies and align their cultures and operations, IBM was laden with duplicative products and services in a way that was all but cost efficient. It must be said that IBM Watson has not delivered the results that IBM expected, thus raising the question “why did IBM Watson … The former employees also claimed Watson Health's various business units were too focused on their own growth, which discouraged collaboration. 24. The Watson Health layoffs are part of an effort to “re-position” the business unit’s focus, he added. The layoffs at the end of May cut a swath through the Watson Health division. IBM hasn’t released the total number of Watson Health employees laid off in May, but the Phytel workers estimate that at least 300 people were given notice at their company, Explorys, and Truven. Internal competition and a disorganized operating structure have plagued IBM Watson Health since its inception three years ago — ultimately leading to a series of recent layoffs, according to a STAT report. 3. IBM confirmed reports from overnight that it is conducting layoffs, but wouldn’t provide details related to location, departments or number of employees involved. IBM's plan for Watson Health was to grow it from a $244 million business in 2015 to $5 billion by 2020. IBM hasn’t filed a mass-layoff notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in North Carolina, Texas or Ohio. Axed engineers say IBM isn’t always smart about artificial intelligence . 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. A Reddit thread offered similar sentiments, with one netizen noting "most of our team survived; I guess we're a 'journey to cloud™' team so that helps us out relatively.". "It's like having great shoes, but not knowing how to walk -- they have to figure out how to use it." IBM employees report a fresh round of widespread layoffs. 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User account menu. IBM (NYSE:IBM) has reportedly laid off 50% to 70% of the workforce at its Watson Health operation, primarily at recent acquisitions for which Big Blue paid at least $3.6B. Some employees at IBM Watson Health, which has an office in Cleveland, said they were affected by the wide-reaching layoffs. by Rick Smith — May 25, 2018 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – IBM is laying off employees in its high-profile Watson Health group, and workers in the … In response to questions from The Register about the extent of and nature of the cuts, the IT grandee did not deny jobs will be lost and declined to offer specific numbers "for competitive reasons". The layoffs at the end of May cut a swath through the Watson Health division. Watson Health just managed to break even in 2018, after massive layoffs. 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IBM has acknowledged that layoffs have hit its Watson Health segment, but said it's a small percentage – not the massive numbers that have been circulating on various media outlets. What goes up must come down. Although IBM claimed Watson Health was performing fine and the layoffs were attributed to normal post-acquisition restructuring, the former employees tell a different story. Posted by 2 years ago. Indeed, some posts were made by staff who recently completed certifications on major cloud platforms but were still let go. Whole departments of the Global Technology Services (GTS) wing were let go on a single day, and the Global Business Services (GBS) team has also been hit hard. "This is really hard … When you're bringing terabytes of data into an environment and standardizing it, and curating it, and then standing up hundreds of measures against it — that's incredibly hard and it take [sic] a lot of time. 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. The recent layoffs do not appear to signal any pullback from IBM’s commitment to AI and its Watson Health division. Add it as the next entry on a long list of euphemisms for layoffs. 10. Eventually, one of Watson's companies, Explorys, found a way to get behind Epic's firewall and use patient data to fulfill its contractual obligations with its client hospitals. IBM has laid off approximately 50 and 70 per cent of staff this week in its Watson Health division, according to inside sources. While we always consider the current environment, IBM's workforce decisions are in the interest of the long-term health of our business.". "There were two products that did exactly the same thing, that were being sold by two different parts of the company, that had two different development roadmaps.". 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