( CNN ) -- IBM 's reported plans to lay off thousands of U.S. workers and outsource many of those jobs to India , even as the company angles for billions in stimulus money , does n't sit well with employee rights advocates . Business Week reports that IBM 's workforce increased from 386,558 in 2007 to 398,000 at the end of 2008 . IBM employees are being dealt a double blow , said Lee Conrad , national coordinator for Alliance @ IBM , a pro-union group that has been fighting IBM 's outsourcing for years . `` We 're outraged that jobs cuts are happening in the U.S. and the work is being shifted offshore , '' Conrad said . `` This comes at the same time IBM has its hand out for stimulus money . This to us is totally unacceptable . '' IBM wants a share of the money in President Obama 's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for projects updating power grids , creating electronic health care records and furthering the use of broadband . `` In the research we 've done working with the transition team , we know that $ 30 billion could create 1 million jobs in the next 12 months , '' IBM CEO Sam Palmisano said in January . Watch how IBM hopes to benefit from the stimulus » . The problem is where those jobs would be , said Ron Hira , a professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology . `` This is really a question of policy , '' Hira said . `` IBM is doing what 's in its best interest , and in this case it 's not in the best interest of America . And that 's why you need policymakers to step in to ensure that this money gets spent to create American jobs . '' Watch the outcry generated by IBM » . IBM has not responded to multiple requests for comment from CNN after the Wall Street Journal 's report that the IT giant would be shipping 5,000 U.S. jobs overseas . `` We have no problem with job creation in other countries , '' Conrad said . `` We have no problem with global expansion . We realize IBM is a global company and has been for many years . But this is different . This is cutting jobs in the U.S. and shifting the work offshore . This is n't job creation . It 's job shifting . '' According to Business Week , IBM has indeed been shifting jobs . The magazine reported that the company 's workforce went up from 386,558 at the end of 2007 to 398,000 at the end of 2008 . But U.S. employment fell from 121,000 to 115,000 during the same time . Hira , author of the book `` Outsourcing America , '' said it 's not just IBM moving jobs out of the United States . `` The problem here , though , is that these companies have an inordinate influence over the political process , '' he said . `` They have a huge , disproportionate amount of power , political power , and can influence the process . '' For that reason , he said , `` you really do need the American public to sort of stand up and say , 'Wait a second . This is just not right . ' ... I certainly hope that there 's a backlash , because there should be . This is bad for America . '' CNN 's Mary Snow , Jennifer Rizzo and Vivienne Foley contributed to this report .
He advocates for plans to shift U.S. jobs to India while seeking stimulus money . IBM analyst has said $ 30 billion could create 1 million jobs in next 12 months . Plan creates conflicting interests between IBM and U.S. , analyst says . American public wants to stand up and say , ' This is just not right , ' analyst says .