IBM is planning to cut thousands of jobs in Germany and other countries, according to a German union representative. When it is all over, the union believes IBM will have eliminated as many as 8,000 jobs from its German workforce.

IBM has neither confirmed nor denied the claims made by the union. Instead it only issued a statement saying that it does not comment on speculation due to the “competitive nature” of the business.

“We have been aware of IBM’s plans to cut jobs for some time,” said Christine Muhr, a labor representative on IBM Germany’s supervisory board.

IBM has been testing temporary staff workers in other countries for some time, according to the union, despite the company’s lack silence on the matter. According to an internal company document obtained by Reuters, these foreign workers, who are referred to as “liquid players”, work on projects and are used to accelerate the speed at which projects are completed. This restructuring plan, revealed in the Handelsblatt report, has been called “Generation Open.”

20,000 employees currently work at the German subsidiary of IBM. When the reduction in force is complete, it is likely only 12,000 employees will remain.

Founded in 1911, IBM is one of the oldest and largest technology companies with offices all over the world and over 400,000 employees. It currently has approximately 120,000 employees in the U.S. and 75,000 in India. In 2011, it reported revenue of $106.91 billion.