International Business Machines Corporation California Layoffs 2025: What Employees Should Know

What the filing says

These are the details as International Business Machines Corporationreported them to the state. The EDD publishes every notice, and these figures come from the state's report as retrieved on Aug 13, 2026.

How much notice the law requires

California's WARN Act requires 60 days of advance written notice before a covered mass layoff, and its only statutory exception is a physical calamity or an act of war — far narrower than federal law's three. Who is covered and how the thresholds are counted is in our California WARN Act guide.

International Business Machines severance: what to check before you sign

A severance offer is not the notice pay the WARN Act describes. Severance you were already promised — in a contract, a handbook, or a union agreement — cannot be used to satisfy that obligation, though Labor Code section 1402 does let an employer reduce a back-pay award by voluntary payments it was never required to make. A release may also give up more than you expect. Justin reviews severance agreements before workers sign. What to check before you decide is in our full guide to the California WARN Act.

Two things worth doing this week either way. File for unemployment now — WARN money does not reduce it, and the filings here run through Jan 5, 2025, so you do not have to wait for your last day. And keep every document, including the notice itself and anything showing when it arrived.

Questions people are asking

Where a layoff can raise a legal question

A layoff is lawful on its own, and nothing below is a statement about International Business Machines. These are the places California law can still come into play, depending on the facts of your own situation.

• The severance you were asked to signA release can give up claims you did not know you had, and the terms are sometimes negotiable.
• How you were selectedA reduction in force still cannot be used to cut someone for a protected reason such as age, disability, pregnancy, or a complaint they made.
• Your final paycheckCalifornia sets when final wages are due at termination, and unpaid time or accrued vacation can carry penalties on top of the wages.
• The length of the notice periodWhere a notice period turns out to fall short of what the law required, the question usually belongs to everyone in the same position rather than to one person.

General information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

What has been reported

Press coverage of this layoff, summarized and attributed. This is reporting rather than the filing itself, and we did not independently verify it.

IBM is cutting 75 jobs at its Silicon Valley Lab at 555 Bailey Ave. in South San Jose's Coyote Valley, with the permanent layoffs slated for Jan. 5, 2026, according to the company's filing with the state Employment Development Department as reported by KRON4 and Hoodline.

Hoodline reported the timing aligns with IBM's previously announced consolidation of its Almaden Research Center into the Silicon Valley Lab at 555 Bailey Ave., though it was unclear whether these cuts stem directly from that restructuring. Company-wide, an IBM spokesperson said the fourth-quarter action would affect a "low single-digit percentage" of its global workforce of about 270,000 while U.S. employment stays flat year over year, per KRON4.

Sources: KRON4 (opens in a new tab) · Hoodline (opens in a new tab)

What the numbers show

• The 75 affected positions are in San Jose.
• The notice is dated 303 days after the last day of work it reports. Notices are sometimes filed or amended after the fact, so this describes the paperwork rather than when anyone was told.
• The 75 workers leaving International Business Machines Corporation re-enter a job market where Santa Clara County unemployment stood at 4% in June 2026, below the 5.2% statewide rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics, not seasonally adjusted).

These are counts and comparisons drawn from the published filings, not findings about International Business Machines.

Other layoffs filed in Santa Clara County around the same time

73 employers have WARN notices on file in Santa Clara County, covering 11,472 workers. These filed within about a quarter of this one.

• Amazon6,975 workers
• Meta Platforms, Inc.4,150 workers
• Walmart587 workers
• Applied Materials, Inc.363 workers
• Intuitive Surgical, Inc.331 workers
• Broadcom Inc.247 workers

Listed because they appear in the same county in the same public data. No connection between these employers is implied.

California wage claims filed against International Business Machines

California employers face claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which lets an employee sue for civil penalties over Labor Code violations on behalf of the state. The state publishes every filing. 2 PAGA cases naming this employer are on that record, including the settlements below.

These are outcomes in other people’s cases, obtained by other lawyers, taken from the state’s public filing record. They are not results of this firm, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What any individual recovers depends on their own hours, pay records, and dates.

• Proposed settlement · 2022

  $4,750,000

  Sales representatives and managers in California who earned sales commissions allegedly did not receive written contracts for their commissions and had their commissions capped. The filing is a joint motion seeking preliminary approval of a proposed class and PAGA settlement to resolve these claims. The employer denies the allegations and is not admitting liability. The settlement provides for a total payment of $4,750,000.

  Covered All persons residing or who resided in California while working for IBM on a commissions incentive plan at any time between November 4, 2015 and the date of preliminary approval of the settlement by the Court.. The settlement resolved class claims as well as PAGA penalties.

  To the state (LWDA)

  $150,000

  United States District Court, Northern District of California · International Business Machines denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

• Court-approved settlement · 2026

  $2,500,000

  Workers employed as apprentices in New York and California alleged wage and hour violations. The court approved a settlement covering class, collective, and PAGA claims. The settlement resolves the claims without admission of liability.

  Covered All persons employed by IBM as Apprentices in New York from March 15, 2017 through March 6, 2024; All persons employed by IBM as Apprentices in California from March 15, 2019 through March 6, 2024; All persons employed by IBM as Apprentices nationwide from March 15, 2020 through March 6, 2024 anywhere in the United States; and all Apprentices employed by IBM in California from March 15, 2022 through March 6, 2024. The settlement resolved class claims as well as PAGA penalties.

  Attorneys' fees

  $833,333

  To the state (LWDA)

  $32,500

  SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF NASSAU · 613280/2025 · International Business Machines denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

A PAGA case is not a class action, and there is nothing to opt out of. A PAGA settlement resolves civil penalties owed to the state — most of which the state keeps — and it does not necessarily resolve your own unpaid wages, missed break premiums, or final-paycheck penalties. If you worked here and were not paid correctly, that is a separate question worth asking about. How California wage claims work.