Thread regarding IBM layoffs

The skill of surviving long term at IBM is anticipating these actions. Speaking from >40yrs.. it was a task to keep jumping the lilypads before you sunk. This commentary/post assumes you are working based on merit without any mentor or nepotism protection... which have different survival strategies (usually gives one a brown nose)

I can fully believe AK , in an AMA, could admit there are 100s or roles that he has no idea what they do. IBM has evovled much past the IBM he started in, and at his level I am guessing the only advice he listens to is McK, as he knows how many empty suits are in the Band A-D ranks.

When Watson was hailed for beating Ken Jennings on Jeopardy, Watson did make a major flub, I believe, what country Toronto was in (I may have the specific issue wrong) - however it was such a fundamental flaw that I wondered how could we hawk Watson Health (liability issues?). I knew then that was not a horse to ride, and if its pushed (which it was) IBM would just decline. IBM is not a leader in cloud, or AI, or even opensource.

It's not much different than reading the news today, or an AK Open Hall.. so much is inaccurate (I avoided "fake") that the skill is reading between the lines.

Yes IBM has great research (most patents) but a fundamental inability to bring most of that profitably to market. Their greatest technology is still the mainframe (hw and sw). Their greatest sales successes were not based on technology as much as customer service and followthrough.

And there were(are?) great (smart) people at IBM.. and I worked on some great things. However as the years went on.. the utter nonsense activity increased.

I think people are bitter because at one point they thought they had some future at IBM. I knew Day 1 of the acquisition of old company that there was no future at IBM. I am very grateful for my time with IBM. I did 5 yrs working 3hrs a day and prepping for my next job. IBM gave me good pay (Band 10 pay at a Band 8), great 401k match, lots of days off, and lots of free time to volunteer in my community. The actually work was stagnated, but since mid-management did not know what was going on, it was very easy to do my job and keep people happy while I had lost of time for other stuff.

So anyone let, please take care of yourself now and be ready. Since RA are constant, I was never worried about getting fired for not performing (or not showing up to work many days :). Take their money and prep for your next job. Just know most will have to work much harder that you did at IBM, so chill and rest, exercise, make all your doctor appts, and be ready.

@ijp,
That's because Amazon and other companies don't have as many fluff positions.
IBM mgmt created useless paper pushing positions for their friends and family.
Most were never listed on GOM which is disgraceful/unethical of the managers.
Nepotism does have it's downside when the party is over.
It will be back to telemarketing for many who got the axe.

I hate to be the villain here but the incompetence at IBM is incredible. 75% of the people here wouldn’t last a year at Amazon. Just consider yourself lucky you were able to work here for as long as you did.

What people fail to realize is that this process is political and politicized. It means that it goes by influence network and those who wield the power. Not by technology, not by performance (no a basketball team is not a good analogy), it all goes by the financial numbers - that's how you operate at the top. IBM can always purchase the technology and the skills they need once the dust settles.

@ode - yeah but they are just replacing them. How about we get rid of a few levels?

All SVPs and VPs that have been exiting either for other jobs or retiring... there's your start. Forced out.

@jts+18Uk6bgM can you let us know tomorrow the names of all the people with title vp and above who are let go?

"IF AK is so good why isn't he cutting Middle Management?"
He is.

IBM RA policies are insulting because they are arbitrary.They don't cut the worst performers, they seem to swing the ax blindly. And why do they cut people who are working on the Big Thing, the Strategic Product, the Future of IBM? Because we all know IBM execs will change their minds tomorrow and today's Big Thing becomes expendable. The company has no direction and no leadership. We workers understand the technology; they don't. So for them to roll the dice and decide who has to lose their livelihood based on a bad quarter or a lost sale is insulting. And we take it personally.

Imagine IBM is a basketball team. Their star franchise player is their top scorer game after game, and he's legitimately the highest-paid player on the team. If IBM had to reduce costs they'd cut him without regard to how they're destroying the team's prospects for the future.

For those on the RA list who will be devastated when they get the news, I'm sorry you'll be going through a reactionary job search. For those who are spared, take the advice of so many on this board. Do your ibm job while your prepare for your exit. Upskill, interview and leave on your terms. It will take work, but you'll have a better chance of minimizing interruption of income. Your family depends on you.

IF AK is so good why isn't he cutting Middle Management? We dont need more than 3-4 layers from a developer to CEO. Right now we have 7-8.
All these people being letgo have the right to be fukin angry!!

I exceeded / achieved all of my checkpoint goals. Can’t say the same for the kinda sorta former-ish CEO who obviously missed hers and still got bonuses etc and is STILL s**king $20k a day while I got very little to nothing for my year(s) of hard work - especially the last few years. THAT, sir, is where the bad feelings are emanating from. IBM does need to trim. How about we start with her continued draining of $$$s from a company that served her very well through the years. Management has failed - not the hard working employees. How about they dump some of them as well? Oh yeah! They ARE them. Until high level managers change, I’m not sure anything will change for IBM.

To: @coi+18Uk6bgM

I empathize on how this impacts people's lives as mine was tremendously impacted when I was RA'ed last June. But, because one has a mortgage or kids' schools to pay for does not an excuse make. Sorry

The problem is and has been festering for many years. We (I still say "we" even though I am no longer an IBM'er but given I still own some shares I guess that makes me an interested party), including me, were part of the problem. In my many years at IBM, I ran into incredibly smart and extremely competent people but I also ran into folks who were "retired in place" - not to mention the incompetents. I know sales folks that scoured Salesconnect for deals that were not assigned and claim them, I saw many many times companies that are clearly in one industry yet claimed under another (likely to accommodate personal or group targets or possibly just plain greed), client deliveries done at "blah" levels (nothing that made clients rave about IBM), IBM solutions and products clearly inferior to COTS yet were "pushed" by salespeople on unsuspecting/trusting clients in order to secure deals, and above all the relentless pressure to focus on quarter-by-quarter signings and revenue, etc.

Most on this forum will claim they were the "good" guys but the reality is that we SAW incompetence and apathy all around us and condoned it. I, too, am to blame as I tried to be a nice guy!

Again, to reiterate, I feel for ya if you've been RA'ed but at the end of the day IBM is doing what IBM must do to survive and thrive. I do not know if it's out of the woods yet but I truly hope it makes it. Although it truly s—s that YOU got swept into it, it is part of the moves that a company as iconic as IBM needs to take to thrive.

/gets off one's soap box

I agree with OP
It’s not personal. It’s “mr manager we need you to cut 4 people, you pick.” This is a finance game.

“... , I find it all a little nauseating to say, AK is doing what's right.”
IBM is s—ing wind right now. Unless you’ve been in a cave.. IBM is NOT on the radar for top cloud companies, the products are so-so at best, the rest s— or are redundant. There is so much process, bureaucracy, and redundant staff that IBM can and should trim the fat. Just go read the internet about IBM, and you’ll see.
It’s a company, with employees to pay, shareholders to give dividends to, and continue to grow and make a profit. Continuously. Maybe if our sh1t wasn’t so bad AK wouldn’t have to “turn around” IBM. But that’s the reality man.

OK, I have to respond.

While I "get" what @OP+18Uk6bgM is attempting to say, they are missing a key point. Everyone is different. I have seen and heard enough horror story's to know about people who can't get another job. People who cannot pay their mortgage. People who can't pay for their kids college.

So I am pleased Mr. Positive here, Mr. Chin Up guy is all for implying don't take it personally, and Keep Calm and Carry On etc. But when it's YOUR life. YOUR kids future on the line through no fault of your own, I find it all a little nauseating to say, AK is doing what's right.

Lets be clear. He isn't. IBM has not declined because of the average employee. IBM has declined due to APPALING management by SENIOR and highly paid people who walk away with millions even when they fail.

So if some feel highly p-ss-d off by that thought after being laid off, I for one don't blame them