IBM begins laying off employees in Russia

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IBM has begun the process of shuttering its operations in Russia. The company CEO Arvind Krishna, told the employees in a memo that due to growing circumstances and uncertainty around the events unfolding around the Russia - Ukraine war, the company has taken the decision to pull out of the country.

In March this year, IBM put its business operations in Russia on hold during the ongoing war. It kept its employees on the payroll, while it evaluated a long-term decision. Unfortunately, it looks like that has now come to pass.

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Krishna acknowledged that IBM's employees in Russia, "through no fault of their own, endured months of stress and uncertainty". He also vowed that the company will, "continue to stand by them and take all reasonable steps to provide support and make their transition as orderly as possible."

According to a Reuters report last month, IBM said that it was not sure how long it could keep paying its employees in Russia, due to the impact of growing sanctions.

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"Sanctions sort of inch up, day by day, and week by week," Krishna told Reuters, and as the sanctions grow, "our ability to keep workers on the payroll may go away."

Various sanctions on Russia had begun to limit the number of banks companies could use to pay their employees in Russia.