By Tracy Johnson, senior producer and business reporter for CBC Radio.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has been quietly laying off thousands of workers in Canada and the U.S., and has come up with some interesting options for employees who have been cut loose.

Such as a move to India.

IBM has a big presence in India - about 75,000 employees as of the end of 2007.

In an internal memo that was obtained by Information Week, IBM has established a program called Project Match. Its goal is to help employees relocate to growth markets. IBM will fund your move to one of these growth markets, will help with visas and other issues.

But, there's a catch: Workers will be paid local salaries.

So let's do the math.

According to my research, an IT consultant in India makes 554,863 rupees a year. That converts to a little over $14,000 Canadian.

IBM says the program is for people who expand their life experience by working somewhere else.