November 29, 2001 — NEW YORK — As demand for semiconductors continuing to drag, IBM on Wednesday said it plans to cut 1,000 microelectronics and 180 data storage-related jobs.

The cuts represent about 5 percent of IBM’s workforce of 21,500, according to an Associated Press report. The majority of the microelectronics cuts will come from the company’s largest facilities in Burlington, VT. and Endicott and East Fishkill, New York.

The company also said it will lay off workers at its Storage Technology division at its Rochester, Minnesota plant.

“The industry, as you know, is in the deepest decline ever. We’ve been faring better than most and I think that’s why we have not announced any reductions before this, and why this one is a lot less than what our competitors announced, but it is affecting us,” an unnamed spokesman for the electronics giant told the AP.

The layoffs are not expected to significantly affect line production workers but rather professionals, according to the spokesman.

Officials said that some of the workers who will receive layoff notices will have an opportunity to find work elsewhere in the company. The cuts will reportedly take effect in a month or two.