IBM will be cutting jobs – that’s not up in the air. The company announced this in its latest earnings report.

But just how many jobs will be lost?

IBM is flatly refuting recent reports that it plans to lay off over 100,000 employees. According to the company, the layoffs will affect “several thousand” employees, which represent a “small fraction” of what recent rumors have suggested.

“IBM does not comment on rumors, even ridiculous or baseless ones,” the company told Reuters. “If anyone had checked information readily available from our public earnings statements, or had simply asked us, they would know that IBM has already announced the company has just taken a $600 million charge for workforce rebalancing. This equates to several thousand people, a small fraction of what’s been reported.”

So, what was reported, exactly?

A Forbes article published last week suggested that 26 percent of IBM’s employees would “be getting phone calls from their managers” this week.

“The USA will be hit hard, but so will other locations. IBM’s contractors can expect regular furloughs in 2015. One in four IBMers reading this column will probably start looking for a new job next week. Those employees will all be gone by the end of February,” said the report.

IBM has called this “baseless”.

Reuters says that this “restructuring” could fall in line with those in recent years – about 8,000 layoffs.

Image via Clockready, Wikimedia Commons