Consulting arm to trim as many as 1,000 workers

The Global Services group layoffs, announced to some of those affected Monday, were being made by local managers trying to respond to changing client demand and did not reflect a business slowdown, IBM said. Jan Butler, a spokeswoman for Global Services, said the workers' skills are no longer needed, and the group is hiring in other areas. "This is not a signal of anything," she said. "I wouldn't say it is a matter of business slowing down." Analysts agreed the move isn't a reflection of slowing business conditions but rather an effort to adjust to changing needs. Global Services, the consulting and outsourcing arm of the tech giant, brought in more than a third of IBM's sales in its last fiscal year and has been one key to its weathering the U.S. economic downturn better than many other technology firms. Global Services employs about 150,000, with the U.S. division accounting for roughly half.