MUMBAI: IBM may let go of at least 5,000 employees over the next few quarters, people familiar with the development told ET NOW, making it the latest in the job-cuts cycle that has plagued the IT sector in the past few weeks.IBM’s layoffs come close to the heels of similar moves at Infosys Wipro and Cognizant , in what is turning out to be a difficult year for the IT sector.“The process has started. Managers have been asked to identify underperformers,” one of the persons ET NOW spoke to said. Another said that IBM is freezing hiring plans till there is more clarity on the business environment.IBM did not confirm the number of employees who will be impacted, but said in an e-mail statement, “re-skilling and rebalancing is an ongoing process as we accelerate the benefits of cognitive and cloud technologies for clients around the world”.IBM currently employs over 1,50,000 people in India.