Everybody knows people over 50 are as good as gone at IBM - the question is not if they'll be laid off but when.
I've noticed a pattern lately of people approaching this age group leaving on their own. I didn't ask them about it - I really don't know most of them well enough - but to me it seems like they are making that move in part to avoid having to face constant uncertainty if they stay here.
Which in the end works out perfectly for IBM...
I arrived at IBM through an acquisition. I revelled at the prospect of having 300K+ colleagues to network and grow with... Reality check... It didn't take long to discover that I was part of an organization where 80% of employees live in fear. Layoffs, age discrimination and a corporate culture dominated by a morbid "fear of falling behind", created the lowest morale I'd seen in 45 years of working. Every day was a death march. Countless people waiting for the axe to fall. Countless more trying avoid being noticed - lest they be the next tagged to leave.
At 58 years old, I left IBM to work for a competitor. Talk about a turn around! Challenging atmosphere, great co-workers and endless optimism about the future. Instead of "being made to retired at 59", I am now looking forward to my "5th anniversary away from IBM".
Truth is: I almost never think of IBM except when I want to share examples of how "not" to do things. Occasionally I visit sites like this to give back to IBM I feel obliged to tell IBMers that it is never too late to jump ship. A few weeks of severance pay can't match the years of meaningful employment you can get elsewhere. To quote a former IBM client of mine: "Just do it!"
The people leaving are those with 1) marketable skills and 2) their eyes open. And people with marginal skills (focused on dead or dying Ibm products and technologies...most of the portfolio), are jumping while the job market is hot enough for employers to take a chance,.
The ones who are truly screwed are those who don't leave and get cut in the next recession when there's no need to take that chance.
But as a 50-something who just left, age discrimination definitely was part of it. I was highly regarded and have very competitive, in demand skills, and left after 16 years. I looked ahead and decided that there was exactly zero chance of making it to retirement at big blue, and if I was going to jump, better early than later. Everyone should make that same calculation - if you cant make retirement, leave while you can.
There is negligible demand for "IBM skills" in the open market (trust me I've been there) as their cloud and other products are marginalised. So anyone having an opportunity to work for AWS, Microsoft or any of the many startups out there should jump in with both feet.
I quit, my last two weeks at IBM... I am 53, in Hybrid Cloud.
My decision is related to no pay increase, no or miserable bonuses, a lack of work because IBM is not a leader in the Cloud. I could probably have stayed at IBM a lot longer without doing much work but this is not what I want.
Accepted a job at AWS. Here I come Amazon!
IBM to Novell comparison has scary similarities
The non-profit arm of the corporation that develops openSUSE will continue to act independently from the stockholders in the corporation.
IBM's path more or less
I have seen several people in the 20-30 age group leave on their own recently. I think this has everything to do with how good the job market is right now and they realize IBM is a dead end.
It's usually the 50-60 age group that makes every excuse in the book not to leave IBM.
A lot of young people don't even know IBM still exist. IBM has turned into Novell.
It's crazy. Most people retire between 62 and 67 in the US. A 50 year old still has 12-17 years of work left in them. Most people change jobs every 3-5 years anyway, so why would a company think a 50 year old is too old? Cost is the answer I'm sure, but is it really an apples to apples comparison?