IBM May Cut 4,000 Jobs After Buying Unit

IBM Corp. may cut about 4,000 jobs as part of its purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ consulting unit.

IBM will eliminate some jobs as it integrates Pricewaterhouse into its services unit, said Doug Elix, a senior vice president for IBM Global Services. But it was too early to say how many, he said.

IBM, the world’s biggest seller of computer services, is trying to lower costs this year after five straight quarterly sales declines. The company has cut 15,600 jobs in 2002, a less than 5% reduction, IBM said last month. Chief Executive Sam Palmisano is buying Pricewaterhouse to sell more profitable services.

Pricewaterhouse has about 30,000 workers, and IBM Global Services has 150,000 employees.

The cuts were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Separately, IBM agreed to buy Access360 for an undisclosed price to get software that controls who has access to computer files. Irvine-based Access360’s programs give new employees the right to use applications they need, deny access to sensitive files and lower costs by requiring fewer people to monitor who can use certain files.

IBM shares fell $3.03 to $72.35 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares rose as high as $73.19 in after-hours trading.