Laid off from Kyndryl.
Kyndryl has booked workforce rebalancing charges every fiscal year since fiscal 2024, and its newest round, approved in May 2026, carries about $200 million, mostly severance. Our tracker holds no Kyndryl WARN filings in any year.
At a glance
What's known about Kyndryl severance and layoffs
- 0 · Kyndryl WARN filings in our tracker, all time
- About $200 million, mostly severance and benefits · Kyndryl rebalancing charge estimated in May 2026
- $152 million, $21 million in the US segment · Kyndryl charges booked, April to June 2026
- $400 million to $500 million, run rate · Annual savings Kyndryl expected in fiscal 2028
- Some 90,000, per The Register · Employees who moved from IBM to Kyndryl, November 2021
- 73,000 · Kyndryl headcount, per The Register in May 2026
- One Vanderbilt Avenue, New York · Kyndryl headquarters
Recent Kyndryl layoffs
Kyndryl booked $152 million of its 2026 rebalancing charges by June 30
Kyndryl's 10-Q shows $152 million of workforce rebalancing charges in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, $21 million of it in the US segment, toward the roughly $200 million it expected. MarketBeat's automated summary of the first-quarter call, dated August 8, 2026, says Kyndryl took the actions in response to lower-than-normal voluntary attrition and SG&A costs, with savings expected to start in the second half of fiscal 2027.
Previous rounds
Kyndryl layoff history
Kyndryl approved its newest cuts on May 5, 2026. The 8-K gave management teams authority to carry out workforce rebalancing in various jurisdictions, each decision made locally under local labor law, and estimated about $200 million in charges, mostly future cash for severance and related benefits. Most of it was to land in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which began April 1, 2026, with the actions substantially done by that year's end, subject to local consultation rules, and savings of about $400 million to $500 million a year expected in fiscal 2028. A spokesperson told The Register on May 20 that Kyndryl expected "a limited workforce rebalancing in some countries affecting a small percentage of our workforce to address labor costs and streamline our operations."
The Register's sources described more than 150 managers pulled into an extraordinary HR meeting as a 45-day consultation began where local law requires one. Staff heard their jobs were at risk on May 20, the same day the employee survey arrived, which is rough timing for a questionnaire about how work feels. Delivery teams were expected to take the cuts, with hundreds likely at risk in the UK alone, and sources told The Register in June that Kyndryl first sought volunteers to leave on a four-month pay package, with compulsory redundancies expected if too few did. Those are insiders' accounts from a UK-centered report.
The 10-Q shows where the charges were booked. Of $152 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, $78 million was booked in the Strategic Markets segment, $44 million in Principal Markets, $9 million in Japan and $21 million in the United States. Kyndryl had paid $18 million in cash and carried $133 million as a liability. MarketBeat's automated summary of the first-quarter earnings call says Kyndryl took the actions in response to lower-than-normal voluntary attrition, meaning fewer people leaving on their own, and SG&A (selling, general and administrative) costs, with savings expected to start in the second half of fiscal 2027.
Kyndryl began as IBM's Global Technology Services division, minus Technical Support Services. The Register counts some 90,000 people who moved over from IBM in November 2021 and 73,000 in May 2026, and its 2024 reporting found 80,000 in the fiscal 2024 annual report. The 10-K lists three earlier programs. The Fiscal 2024 Program, begun in the year to March 2023, cost $310 million, about 60% of it workforce rebalancing. The Fiscal 2025 Program cost $162 million, $114 million of it workforce rebalancing, and the Fiscal 2026 Program about $60 million. The US segment's share of the three came to $43 million, $62 million and $20 million.
The Register reviewed data given to one US worker in the pool for Kyndryl's 2023/FY 2024 Customer Engagement Transformation Program. Of 420 US workers selected, 156 lost their jobs, at an average age of 55, and 264 moved to other roles, at 52 on average. The Register said Kyndryl compiled those ages in an employee information package in an attempt to satisfy the federal age-discrimination law, since the negotiated severance came in exchange for waiving the right to sue under it. In 2024, three current and former employees described cuts through the bench, where staff billed to clients less than 70 percent of the time waited for an internal role and were let go if none came. They credited Kyndryl with three months of severance and three to twelve months of health coverage by service, under an agreement requiring arbitration and a release of discrimination and other claims. Kyndryl didn't respond, so these stay employees' accounts.
If a release in a group program asks you to give up age claims, 29 U.S.C. 626(f) requires at least 45 days to decide, at least 7 days after signing to revoke, written advice to consult a lawyer, and a written breakdown of the ages and job titles of everyone eligible or selected, alongside the ages of coworkers in the same unit who were left out. Check that breakdown against your own team before the window closes. Our tracker holds 0 filings covering 0 jobs since the start of 2025. Earlier years hold no Kyndryl filing either. In 2023 The Register cited a company figure from a year earlier that put about 92 percent of Kyndryl's people outside the US. Kyndryl is headquartered in New York, and the state's unemployment guide walks through a claim there.
Reporting on previous Kyndryl layoff rounds
May 2026, workforce rebalancing in some countries · About $200 million in charges, $152 million booked by June 30; Kyndryl gave The Register no head count, and a UK consultation meant at least 100 expected exits
Sources The Register cited described four months' pay for volunteers in the UK-centered consultation; unverified.
Fiscal 2026 Program, April 2025 to March 2026 · About $60 million in workforce rebalancing charges, $20 million in the US segment
Fiscal 2025 Program, April 2024 to March 2025 · $162 million, $114 million of it workforce rebalancing; $62 million in the US segment
October 2024 report, US bench exits described by employees · Hundreds, largely in the US, per three current and former employees; Kyndryl didn't respond
Three months' severance and three to twelve months of health coverage by service, with arbitration and a release; unverified accounts.
Fiscal 2024 Program, fiscal 2023 through March 2024 · $310 million, about 60% of it workforce rebalancing; in the same stretch, one report put a 2023 global cut at 2,000
What to do after being laid off from Kyndryl
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Kyndryl's biggest hubs: New York. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Kyndryl's hub states run: New York, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Kyndryl layoff and severance questions
Did Kyndryl have layoffs in 2026?
Yes. Kyndryl approved workforce rebalancing on May 5, 2026, and its 8-K estimated about $200 million in charges, mostly for severance. Its 10-Q shows $152 million booked by June 30. A spokesperson told The Register Kyndryl expected it to touch some countries and a small percentage of the workforce.
How many employees did Kyndryl lay off in 2026?
Kyndryl hadn't given a number by June, The Register reported, and its filings count dollars. In the UK, a 45-day consultation meant at least 100 people were expected to leave.
What severance does Kyndryl pay laid-off employees?
The filings give only a total. Sources told The Register that 2026 volunteers were first offered four months' pay, in a report centered on UK staff. US employees described three months of severance and three to twelve months of health coverage in 2024. Neither account comes from Kyndryl.
Can I collect unemployment in New York while getting Kyndryl severance?
Only in some cases. New York's Labor Department says severance above the maximum weekly benefit rate, paid weekly or as a lump sum prorated by week, makes you ineligible, though you may qualify if the first payment arrives more than 30 days after your last day worked. If you aren't sure whether or when severance will come, the department says to file and let it decide, and to file a claim if you're still out of work when the severance ends, even if you filed one earlier.
Does Kyndryl file WARN notices?
Our tracker holds none under the Kyndryl name in any year. The Labor Department says the federal WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more employees and requires 60 days' written notice when a plant closing or mass layoff affects 50 or more workers at one site of employment.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Kyndryl?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Kyndryl's biggest U.S. hubs are New York. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Kyndryl?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Kyndryl?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Kyndryl?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.