BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A big blow at big blue on this day in history.

International Business Machines - or IBM - in Essex Junction was Vermont’s largest private employer, peaking at 8,500 employees in mid-2001.

But on November 27 of that year, 500 people were laid off from the chip plant.

A slowdown in the computer industry and a post-9/11 recession were to blame.

This was the first of many rounds of job cuts over the next decade, before IBM sold the plant to GlobalFoundries in 2015.

Copyright 2025 WCAX. All rights reserved.

See Full Page