1 billion saved per 10k of salary. You need to read the parent in context of its parents.

>for each $10000 of employee salary

So a billion saved per 10k of average employee salary, just way of quantifying it in something understandable.

> Who makes 10k a year?

A lot of employees in developing countries in which IBM has a presence.

A better question is, who doesn't make at least 10K per year? Are there many?

If not, then the billion figure represents a reasonable lower bound estimate on the savings.