IBM could see its permanent workforce of 399,000 staff shrink by three-quarters over the next seven years.

The company would then re-hire the workers as contractors for specific projects as and when necessary, a concept dubbed "crowd sourcing", according to a report by Personnel Today.

Tim Ringo, head of IBM Human Capital Management, is quoted as saying that by 2017, there will potentially be just 100,000 people working full time on a permanent basis at the firm.

“I think crowd sourcing is really important, where you would have a core set of employees but the vast majority are sub-contracted out," he added.