New layoffs are announced each week as the global economy worsens and companies are cutting back to ensure that they can remain viable. The layoffs and job cuts are becoming common even at some of the largest and most well known companies in the technology industry.

EWeek reports that IBM is being scrutinized for its layoff practices in America. The reason for the scrutiny is that IBM has been making layoffs a little at a time rather than announcing one big layoff. A possible reason for IBM to be making its cuts in small numbers is to avoid laws that require warning of pending layoffs.

A law called the WARN Act requires a large employer to give employees advanced notice of layoffs. The act requires employers to give at least 60 days notice of a site-specific plant closing or layoff of more than 500 people at a single location or for the cut of at least 1/3 of the workers at one site. Some states also have specific laws requiring layoff notification by employers.

EWeek reports that on January 20, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano said that IBM would be "investing in its people" while other companies were making job cuts. The next day IBM reportedly announced layoffs and so far estimates claim 4,600 jobs in North America have been lost. Some IBM employees are claiming that the company is using the poor global economy as a reason to cut jobs and boost the numbers for the year.

Some of the cuts that IBM is making are unannounced according to The New York Times. Part of the problem with unannounced and sudden job cuts by companies like IBM is that it gives the employees no time to find other work or prepare for the loss of their job.

Harley Shaiken from the University of California, Berkeley told The New York Times, "The twin goals are transparency and decency. The issue becomes all the more pressing in this downward economic spiral."