Mar. 27--Global technology giant IBM laid off thousands of workers on Thursday in yet another round of job cuts, according to a labor union seeking to organize the company's employees.

The impact of the layoffs on the company's Research Triangle Park operations, its largest site, remains unclear, said Lee Conrad, national coordinator of Alliance@IBM, the aspiring union.

The union reported Thursday afternoon that IBM had cut at least 1,674 employees, based on reports provided by IBM workers. Conrad said he expected to post an updated number, based on additional reports, on the organization's Web site today.

IBM spokesman Doug Shelton declined to comment on the situation. The company typically says little if anything about layoffs, creating a vacuum that Alliance@IBM fills by functioning as a clearinghouse for information supplied by IBM workers.

Alliance@IBM previously predicted the latest round of layoffs at IBM -- dubbed by some as "Black Thursday" -- based on inside tips from workers.

The layoffs occurred in IBM's business services unit, which accounts for about a fifth of IBM's sales, and in its hardware unit, Conrad said. Business services provides financial management, customer relationship management and supply chain management, according to IBM's Web site.

IBM is one of the Triangle's largest employers. Making matters worse, IBM is one of more than a dozen high-tech companies that have slashed jobs in this region. Layoffs at Sony Ericsson, Nortel Networks, Lenovo and others are glutting the job market with out-of-work engineers, programmers and project managers.

Gov. Beverly Perdue was asked about IBM's layoffs Thursday after she spoke at a nanotechnology conference at the Raleigh Convention Center.

"I'm sorry and sad," Perdue said. "I knew it was coming. They have been talking about it for six months. It is what it is. It's a terrible time in this global economic condition."

According to the Alliance@IBM Web site, IBM has terminated more than 5,000 workers in recent months. IBM's RTP site employed 11,000 workers before recent layoffs trimmed its ranks.

However, IBM has been weathering the recession nicely. The company's fourth-quarter profits were better than expected and in January it forecast an annual profit for 2009 that outpaced analysts' estimates.

Conrad contends that many of the U.S. jobs being cut are being outsourced to other countries. In some cases, local IBM workers are being asked to train their overseas replacements.

Rick Deckelbaum, CEO of Raleigh executive recruiting firm RDA Recruiters, said he has been seeing an uptick in resumes from IBM employees recently.

Those resumes are coming from workers who have been laid off, as well as "those who are concerned about whether they will be part of the next round of cutbacks," he said.

Staff writer Rob Christensen contributed to this report.

david.ranii@newsobserver.com or919-829-4877

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