Thread regarding IBM layoffs

There's no conflict between the opinions being expressed here. A good chunk of those "underperforming employees" are letter-banded executives who, as pointed out, often have no direct reports, no account/product ownership, no P&L management duties, no real reason to exist apart from historical ones. And the "good performers" being RA'ed are because of how the cost reduction targets get distributed down through the organizations.

There might be underperforming employees left. But if they are only around to be cut later, why does every RA throw out good performers?

Also, this may not be a popular opinion on this site, but there is an army of underperforming employees in underperforming divisions at IBM.

And how many executives are being held accountable? Last time I looked, the number was zero.

The only thing that matters to the C-Suite is stock options and bonuses. Cutting employees stabilizes the otherwise free falling stock price and generates executive bonuses for "shrewd attention to earnings".

You might ask: "How about making better products and serving the customer?" They will say in unison: "Too risky".

Kyx- you are correct. GTS revenue is falling off a cliff and GTS is top heavy. There are D band and VPs there who have no direct reports. And the cost to the business? This is a shame and rips off the stock holders.

Note that it's "non-GAAP adjusted Operational Earnings" that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Not actual GAAP earnings.

Also, this may not be a popular opinion on this site, but there is an army of underperforming employees in underperforming divisions at IBM, and instead of just cutting them all at once years ago, they keep them around so they can cut them as needed to slightly beat each quarter's earnings numbers for years on end. With constantly declining revenues and the RH acquisition probably being the last for awhile (and draining cash that could've been used for share buybacks going forward) it's one of the last levers they have to pull.

IBM has been fooling investors for decades. This quarter is no exception.

Employees have known the truth since the 1990s :(