IBM’s entire AIX development effort has been moved to India, a stark change from just a few months ago.

According to The Register, IBM’s AIX development was split roughly evenly between the US and India as recently as the third quarter of 2022. The outlet’s sources say some 80 jobs have been impacted, although IBM has refused to respond to requests for comment at least twice.

“It also appears that these people in ‘redeployment’ limbo within IBM are all older, retirement eligible employees,” one of The Register’s sources said. “The general sense among my peers is that redeployment is being used to nudge older employees out of the company and to do so in a manner that avoids the type of scrutiny that comes with layoffs.”

IBM has a long history of being sued for age-related discrimination, allegedly targeting older employees for layoffs. The outlet’s source is likely correct that Big Blue is trying to avoid such scrutiny.