got cut yesterday and was offered the relocation to Columbia, MO as an alternative. My manager said I will have to agree to relocate there by the end of Sept. However, I was not provided any information whatsoever on the role, responsibilities, or department I will have there. He said if I take the option of relocation, IBM will ensure the job in the same discipline, and my salary & band will not change.
After reading the comments, I noticed that anyone who was offered relocation in the US, was offered Missouri location only.
Does anyone know the significance of Columbia Missouri? Any specific reason??
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probably due to maintaining state incentives. I used to work at the CIC in Missori:
https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/ibm-job-growth-in-columbia-falls-short-of-initial-promises/article_1686f1a8-5c0f-57bb-b451-b1d41b4f1788.html
I have some confusion about the relocation package. If we accept it, what happens between June and September? Are we paid regular salary? Do we still work for our previous group during those 3 months, or do we start remote work for Columbia starting June 22?
The relocation package doesn't appear to cover Real Estate commissions for the sale of my current home. For me, this cost alone would be far more than the lump sum plan ($7000 + $500/dependent) offers.
I'm still considering the relocation package as a last resort. The Columbia real estate taxes and sales taxes are much cheaper than here... State income taxes are progressive and from what I'm calculating will be much lower too. Local income taxes are zero in Columbia.
Columbia is a very nice town. Went to college their in the 80's and one year it was ranged the 5th best place to live in the US.
Of course, haven't been their post-Obama, if it's anything like what happened to the rest of small-town middle-USA, it's in bad shape.
IBM has a contract with the State of Missouri for tax purposes; they have to keep the CIC staffed with bodies on site.
I got the Columbia option too - I got resourced yesterday -22 years IBMer - an important resource on a major SO long term contract for GTS with strong Cloud skills which contradict with their press about eliminating non cloud resources. I am 63 so it was all about age discrimination in the guise of off-shoring. Columbia would be option #3 for me. I would not "move" to Columbia, but get a Studio apt and live there to work and travel home every so often to my state which is 7 hrs away by car. It looks like it is a SO delivery support center and that is all I have been doing for the last 12 years - not crazy about doing this at all - hopefully escalations or working for a contracting outfit on the same current SO account will pan out before I have to make the decision by June 22 ......
It is nice that IBM offers to relocate you to a college town during the second spike of covid19. Might save them from having to lay off more people if they are dead.
If one is young and single I’d say go for it. It’s a college town and close to a major metropolitan of St. Louis. There are not a lot of tech companies based in STL but there are plenty of large companies based there and Fortune 500 companies based there one could migrate to. Boeing Defense, Express Scripts, Emerson Electric, Centene, Energizer, Edward Jones, Scott Trade, AB InBev, Monsanto, others and lots of other Fortune 1000 companies. Most all of the large IT companies operations there. I think only Minneapolis and Chicago has more in the Midwest. You will be fine. I lived in Columbia when I was younger. It’s a fun city. The Ozarks are beautiful for hiking and canoeing. I hate the long hot summers there so I moved north. It’s not perfect but it’s ok if you’re young.
CIC in Columbia is in a college town, very small and you are in the middle of the state. It’s not bad working there but it’s not for everyone. Not a lot of tech companies in Missouri, so If I’m laid off from the Columbia office I will need to relocate to find another job in tech. Just thought I’d share my thoughts.
My advise: Accept offer. Ask for extension to delay moving for as long as possible. 12 months is not unreasonable. Use the time to find a new job outside IBM. If that fails you have a fallback, but that should be your absolute last resort. 12 months to find a new job should be relatively easy for a technical professional.
As the saying go, "Missouri loves company!"
In my opinion, Missouri is one of the worst states in the union. I personally would take the RA deal and find a job with another company in a better location. If you take the deal and get RA'd in a year or two, now you're stuck in place with no IT jobs. There's a reason no other big tech is located there.
@zum+15549GKU
Let's say I accept the relocation offer and turn down the 3month lumpsum offer. what if IBM couldn't find the job at the MO office? if they decide to fire me in that case, will they offer me 3moth lumpsum again or will that be 'at will' and they will give me just a one month notice instead?
I received the offer as well. Will likely accept to extend my timeline of finding a new role outside of IBM, and taking advantage of the September date to essentially space out what I would’ve gotten with the lump sum. And worst case scenario I’ll still have a job at the end of the day, and will keep looking after relocating. It’s too big of a risk in this job market to turn down a sure offer
With all the WFH orders, I have a feeling the Columbia office won’t be ready to receive then, anyways. Will be interesting to see how they enforce the required move date, if people won’t be back in the office. I’ll likely get a temporary Airbnb or something to scope out the scene before signing an actual lease.
Bottom line, I don’t plan on staying in MO for more than a year. I also don’t have a family so maybe that’s why it’s easier for me.
IBM opened the CIC there in 2010 thanks to tax incentives from the state. They promised to deliver 800+ jobs to the local economy, but have failed to so ever since, sometimes disqualifying then for the corporate tax cuts. Looks like they’re taking this opportunity to fill up the site
I think IBM wants to get around the age discrimination issue by saying "We offered them a new job, but they didn't take it!"
Does it make sense to accept the relocation offer to prolong the employment until I find a good opportunity outside instead of exiting after 30 days and struggling to find a new job immediately during this corona situation?
of course, 90days lumpsum salary will give 3 extra months but you never know the job market.
In Missouri, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, employment is “at will.” This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or a reason.
I got the relocation offer and I'm in the late 30s
Saw a post on another thread that described where some accepted a relocation offer and were still laid off in less than 2 years. I also recall a few years ago many relocating to Dubuque Iowa and not long after layoffs hit there.Consider that risk if you choose to accept relocation.
https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/31671.wss
There is a PowerPoint deck with info on the location, ask your manager for it. There’s a Customer Innovation Center there...
I did see a post where someone else got a different location. Also speculation that offers were to older workers, I am over 50 and got a relocation offer.