Technology giant IBM has dodged allegations by the Australian Services Union that it will shunt as many as 800 local jobs to offshore locations.

Surveys indicate that U.S. IT managers are ready to start spending money again. But while the steep drop in IT employment over the past year may be slowing, managers aren't ready to start hiring again.

The Mater Healthcare Group has deployed IBM’s Cognos workforce planning solution in its seven Brisbane hospitals where it employs 7,000 staff and provides healthcare to 500,000 patients a year.

For Australia's largest listed ICT services provider, SMS Management & Technology, the downturn is already well and truly over. At least that would appear to be the case judging by the company's hiring intentions.

Anyone hoping for a quick turnaround in the ICT jobs sector looks set to be disappointed with a new report showing that nervous businesses and ever more cautious government agencies are putting projects and staff hirings on hold. What's more, if the report is to be believed, things don't look like getting better until mid-2010.

The Australian IT&T jobs scene continues to be in a nose dive with new figures showing that there are now less than half the jobs on offer than there were one year ago. As bad as it looks for IT&T jobs, however, in April the sector did not fare as badly as some other professional sectors.

The US$7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle Corp will result in layoffs of between 10,000 and 15,000 staff in the first two years, according to industry analysts. In so doing Oracle will accomplish what Sun didn't have the stomach for and save billions of dollars each year they say.

NEC has unveiled the new structure of its Australian business which will see the organisation divided into four business units - Unified Communications, Managed Services, Network Solutions and Display Solutions - and the restructure of its R&D operation to focus on commercial ICT technologies for both the local and export markets. As a result some 153 staff will lose their jobs.

Enterprise management software vendor CA has axed 31 staff at its Melbourne security R&D Lab in what it is calling a restructuring move. Melbourne is one of CA's largest centres for international R&D outside of the US and the move amounts to a downsizing of about 20%.

In this present turbulent economic time businesses would do well to consider the opportunity for process efficiencies and cost savings that technology can bring. Positive Workforce Solutions are doing their bit to help slash payroll costs without reducing headcount. That's the message from four large enterprises, each attesting to effiencies and reduced expenses.