IBM to Shed Up to 1,400 Jobs in France by 2014

PARIS -- IBM is to next week present a plan to slash between 1,200 and 1,400 jobs in France over the next two years, union leaders said on Thursday.

"Management wants to cut between 1,200 and 1,400 direct jobs over two years," equivalent to 14% of IBM's 9,700-strong French workforce, Gerard Chameau, a representative for the CFDT union said.

The plan is due to be outlined to employees at a meeting on April 24, both Chameau and IBM's main Unsa union confirmed.

If the layoffs are made gradually over this year and next, a voluntary redundancy plan could replace compulsory cuts, said a third union, the CFE-CGC.

The company's management was not immediately available for comment.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013