Reply #6: here's the Williams story: Williams outsourcing 460 jobs to IBM [View All]

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2004/06/01/williams_outsourcing_460_jobs_to_ibm/

ULSA, Okla. -- Williams Cos. has agreed to ship about 460 accounting, finance, human resources and information technology jobs to IBM Corp. in a $320 million outsourcing agreement announced Tuesday. Williams' shares hit a 52-week high.

The 7 1/2-year deal is expected to begin July 1 when roughly 380 Williams employees in Tulsa, 70 in Houston and 10 in Salt Lake City are offered jobs at IBM -- a move Williams expects will save as much as $10 million each year.

"This is a big, and difficult, step for our company and all of us as individuals," Steve Malcolm, Williams' chairman, president and chief executive wrote in a memo to employees. "It's also a critical step in satisfying our need to quickly align our support costs with our smaller, more focused business operations."

Williams has sold more than $8 billion in assets -- including three major pipelines and two refineries -- since 2002 to improve its finances after its faltering energy trading business nearly led to bankruptcy.

...more...

and this little tidbit from another source

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=62537

No Decision Yet On The Outsourcing Of 700 Williams Jobs



A decision to send about 700 jobs from Williams Companies to IBM Corporation is on hold. A memo to employees says top Williams executives studying the outsourcing proposal discovered that more issues need to be resolved.

A Williams spokesman says the Tulsa based company could decide whether to move information technology, finance and accounting and human resources work to IBM anytime.

And most of the 700 jobs outsourced would be from Tulsa, where Williams employs more than 1,400 people.

...very short newsblurb...