I was rated on performance segment (Top/Core/Low) at the last performance review 2/2026 and informed today my manager I was put on a PIP following HR email.
Does a manager choose to put on on a PIP or his/her choice?
22 replies (most recent on top)
@22m accurate. Similar experience. Internal systems are being manipulated and misused in nefarious ways to justify certain actions. It’s an abuse of the systems. It is also misleading
@22m - you share partially the blame. You could not have naive not to foresee the outcome next.
In my 30+ years at IBM, I have encountered one manager who refused categorically to rank employees based on quotas imposed by the higher ups. He ha a conscious. Most managers are just parasites, useless pieces of sh-t.
Last year, I was instructed by my management chain to identify 15% of my organization as low performers and to formally record those ratings during the mid-year review process. I was asked whether any employees should be placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), but I was not directed to do so, and I did not recommend any because I did not have any genuine low performers. Quite the opposite—many of the people I was asked to classify as low performers were solid contributors who were meeting or exceeding expectations.
At year-end, I was again instructed to apply a 15/70/15 performance distribution across my team. There was no requirement that employees in the lowest category be placed on PIPs, nor was there any expectation that documented performance deficiencies would support those ratings.
What happened next made the purpose of the exercise clear. I was instructed to identify approximately 15% of the organization for termination in the first quarter of the following year. Those terminations went ahead despite none of the affected employees having been placed on PIPs.
From where I sat, performance ratings were not being used to measure performance. They were being used to justify predetermined workforce reduction targets. The numbers came first; the ratings were made to fit.
That is the reality of IBM as I experienced it.
@12q not always. Sometimes they get let go before layoffs as part of pip
@vs in Albany we had a second line manager telling the managers who to put on them
@vs let's put it another way - if you manger does not put you on a PIP when they are given the chance, he/she will be on a PIP next time.
It is the India Business Machines cycle of life mantra. just ask Alvind.
LOL.
By now, it’s pretty much the manager's call to put someone on a PIP. I saw the HR email sent to them and it basically gives them two options: 1. If the manager feels like the person has already caught up on performance, no PIP is needed. 2. If not, then PIP it is. So, if you've been PIP'd, it means they really want to get rid of you because your manager had the choice in his/ her hands.
I am working today even though it's Memorial Day. I've been answering slack messages all day due to me being on a global team and I am skipping a friends get together and working on getting another badge.
To Avoid PIPs you gotta be available, you need to upskill and not get stale. Those were the words my first line told me on day one and Jim K and Joanne believe the same.
@OP sorry but you should start finding something else ASAP
Pip is Bob spelled by granite4.1.
@OP if true start looking for new job asap
@cm it didn’t get better now with the quantum billion dollars ? I quit recently.
A LP rating is a direct pipeline to PIP, seen it with my own eyes.
@cj Albany is absolute chaos right now. It feels close to all mutiny
@c6 they are giving PIPs where they overhired and second line manager tells them to do it (at least in Albany).
@OP If it was really performance related, you would have known by now it is from your manager and would have had several coaching conversations already. If this has nothing to do with your performance, your manager is executing the instructions from your second line manager. Ask your manager for clarity on what have you done to be handed over a PIP.
@b5 "someone in IBM management is out to get you"
Couldn't agree more. I want to add that there are quite a few signs management is out to get you: a PIP, a bonus you should have gotten but didn't, a project you should have gotten given to someone else, not being invited to a meeting you should have, etc.
In my case it was being completely ignored by a manager (and I mean completely like I didn't exist) when I said something to him at a meeting. I was RAed shortly afterward.
Don't be paranoid, but do start preparing. These are all information something's going on.
@OP
Small price to pay for the Indian at the top to enjoy his $100 million fat bonus.
Your life is no more than a statistic number for the Indian blood su-king parasite at the top.
Which division/group are you in?
@OP now that you are on a PIP, it is safe to say someone in IBM management is out to get you even if you beat the rap; so you better start tuning your resume, packing your bags , saying your goodbyes and get the heck out of IBM to a better place.
IBM is a dump, except perhaps if you are an Indian.
All is driven by HR and management execs. Mid/low management just execute. Anyone in the loop knows that very well
It’s their choice