It might be disheartening to know that the IT Examiner sources have revealed that IBM might be dismissing 16,000 workers in 2009 and those belonging to the hardware area would suffer the most.

“We came to know about the 16,000 job cuts. The reports are true though nothing has been made official yet from the management’s side. It will definitely have huge impact on IBM jobs mainly in parts like China, Europe and US,” reported the IT Examiner, quoting a source.

Earlier, in December, reports came that upcoming layoffs were known internally as far back as shortly after the October 16, 2008 conference call where IBM's Q3 earnings were reported.

It has been announced by IBM that their earnings for the third quarter were nearly 5% at $25.3 billion, 22% increase in profits on the year.