Thread regarding IBM layoffs

RA June 2020

I was RA this past June and this was the best thing that happened to me. Cheer up. In your package does it include Right Management? If it does please use it. They will help you with your resume and other things. Also make sure you connect with the Slack channel ibmfriends2020. Hang in there my friend, there are plenty of good companies out there.

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Post ID: @OP+18Uz18t7

10 replies (most recent on top)

I see a section on Career Transition Servcises provided by RiseSmart. Not Right Management.

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Post ID: @2iag+18Uz18t7

Will IBM deduct 401K contributions from the severance check? I would like to have this done.

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Post ID: @1kpi+18Uz18t7

Right Management Service is usually included on the package.

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Post ID: @1ykc+18Uz18t7

Where do you find the Right Management resume service you referred to?

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Post ID: @1qft+18Uz18t7

Thanks for the tips. I was an impacted party.
Just signed up for the resume service. I already have 2 phone screens scheduled, should be great practice. It’s been about 10 years.

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Post ID: @1pwx+18Uz18t7

Hi there. You are int he United States yes? If so.....

Here's the link to show how many days accrued for months of work during the year
https://w3.ibm.com/hr/web/us/timeoff/vacation_hvaacrues

Your vacations days will be paid out and you can use the chart to calculate how many you have. When did you receive your RA? If in January you basically have possibly 1 day if you are lucky.

Paid sick time is a wash. That is not included in a payout. Use it or loose it so don't count on that for anything. Essentially it can only be used while employees and not cashed out.

Personal choice days are tricky. If you live in California that have to pay them out as vacation and PC Days are considered pay. You will nee to calculate how many you have accrued. Again if your RA was in Jan then you'll likely have none. If you live outside of California I believe you need to use the PC days you have accrued in 2021 before your departure date as in other states I do not believe those are paid out.

One "Don't" I might suggest is spending too much time trying to save yourself by searching for another internal job you might shift into. Have been in management at IBM we are told to push our employees to use GOM to search for work however we also know that once you are in an RA there is no manager who will like touch you and essentially you are blacklisted. There are some cases where you might get lucky but think of it this way. Let's say IBM carries out an RA of 100 people. Now 25 of those people take new jobs within IBM. That RA was now effectively reduced to 75 people. How do they make up that cost savings of those 25 heads that did not leave. See my point? Even knowing this I went to the GOM in a desperate attempt to save myself. I found positions, put myself in play for the role, reached out to the hiring managers and staff. Crickets for every position I applied for. Not a single returned email. Some of those Hiring Managers I even knew or had worked with in the past. My suggestion, sure try the GOM however don't spend your next 30 days banking in it. Spend more time looking outside IBM.

A few do's for you. Do get connected with Right Management right away and get your coach assigned. Get cracking on your resume or CV right now. Dust it off, get it in the best shape you can. Then run it through VMock (search online). It's a tool that will help you fix up your resume. Also download the resume templates from Right Management and get your resume into the proper format. It's been a very long time since I had to create a resume and so much has changed. Once you have it fixed up in VMock talk to you Right Management coach and ask them to get it to theResume team. You will have a new person working with you just on that aspect along with your coach. That service in itself is the most valuable from Right Management. Do get enrolled into the live training sessions with Right Management. They are valuable.

Above all else....and this one is so difficult....spend the next 30 days working on you! You are the important one now not IBM. Sure you have work on your plate and if you are like me you don't want to leave things up in the air. Trust me if IBM cared they would not have placed you in an RA in the first place. Work on you. Your brand. Your resume. Do the bare minimum to survive the next 30 days however focus on you.

Do download any paystubs you might need now. Remember those ones in Notes are encrypted so you need to save them to PDF or print them so you have them. Especially the last few months as you will need those to help you calculate numbers for unemployment.

Do contact HR and your manager now and ask how you can get a copy of your final paystub. Remember you will not be an employee any longer so you will not have access to email for your last paystub nor access to W3 to download it. HR may be able to open a case for you prior to your last days and send it to you. Trying to get it once you have departed is challenging and you will want to review it for tax purposes and unemployment.

Do get any personal information you have on your laptop moved off. You should not have anything on the IBM laptop however we all at some point do something. Be sure you sign out your Apple ID for example if you used your personal one. Be sure it's fully disconnected (iTunes, iCloud, find my mac, etc).

Do get a new phone now and again anything you may have on the phone that is personal get it off so you can hand it back without worry. Same goes for Laptop.

Do prepare to reapply for your benefit elections (yes again) and make sure you do them within the proper time frame so you don't miss out. Go print out your current elections now from NetBenefits so that you can pick the same ones easily as you re-enroll.

Things I wish I had done differently? Spent more time focusing on me in the last 30 days vs. searching GOM and trying to wrap up everything.

Finally ...breathe. It will be ok. It's 4.5 months later for me. Still no job and yet I am happier and so stress free compared to the 6 plus years I was with IBM. People on these boards will say "you will be so happy you left" and I agree. And you will see too. The first few weeks will be tough. Anger, sadness, shame, frustration, why me? Just know it's all about the numbers and the bottom line and making share holders happy and showing a profit. Use you coach at Right Management as someone to talk to . Use the employee assistance program if things get really dark.

You've got a lot of work to do so get started right now. I wish you all the best!

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Post ID: @tqh+18Uz18t7

Save your PTO, Take all your sick days. Do not do any real work (just fake it).

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Post ID: @hse+18Uz18t7

Deduct a lot of money for taxes? What else would they deduct?

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Post ID: @kti+18Uz18t7

They will pay you for your PTO if you have not use it. You will get your lump sum money one week after you leave the company. They are suppose to give you 3 months but they deduct a lot of money.
During the 30 days I did zero work. I took a vacation to vent and digest everything. If you want send me an email with your phone number and I will call you. My email address is a.lopezmx@yahoo.com.
Just be calm, things will work out for the best.

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Post ID: @ssg+18Uz18t7

Would you mind sharing how PTO, Paid Sick and Personal choice are being calculated? And some DOs and DON'Ts in the next 30 days.

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Post ID: @bxs+18Uz18t7

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