Thread regarding IBM layoffs

No talent left

Do you know why things will continue to go downhill? Because there is zero talent left to steer this company in the right direction. Most of the talented people are gone through layoffs. Those few who were not affected in the past five or more years have either left on their own or are looking for a way out. IBM was happy to get rid of its best people just to save a few bucks and now we're all paying the price.

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Post ID: @OP+19q6Rg0a

16 replies (most recent on top)

@6twf+19q6Rg0a my work is challenging and my tech colleagues are talented but thats about it.
There's no cohesion outside work, no culture, morale is always down because of no raises bonuses etc. and layoffs.
If you're happy it's good for you but isn't the case for majority of devs at ibm

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Post ID: @6vxy+19q6Rg0a

No, I'm not a manager. Obviously IBM is not a pleasant place to work, but some people come from acquired companies that were... Acquired companies whose employees were treated well and genuinely liked their work. Decades at a great company with colleagues who have become your second family aren't just erased in a few years because of IBM. Maybe you're miserable but speak for yourself. I'm incredibly sad that so many talented colleagues were RA'd, but I'm still trying to remain hopeful for those of us who are left (who are not managers, and... gasp... do enjoy their work).

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Post ID: @6twf+19q6Rg0a

LOL the dumb guy thinks employees like working here because they say so when asked.

The dumb guy is the boss

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Post ID: @4kxf+19q6Rg0a

@4zbg+19q6Rg0a if you're a manager then create a truly anonymous survey to find out if the left ones actually like to work at ibm.
Not these surveys which are tracked or directly asking them.

Ibm employees are treated like garbage and are only here because:

  • they bought a house and cant move
  • have family in the area
  • ibm is the only tech company nearby
  • they can't get hired outside
  • immigration issues
  • they're the chosen one and got all promos and bonuses (happens in 1/10 cases because nepotism, favoritism rarely coz of competence)

If boss asks someone if they like working there what do you think the employee would answer, especially at ibm?

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Post ID: @4nhs+19q6Rg0a

1byi Have you considered that IBM is transforming from the Ginni model (19-20 strategic focused industries) to the new AK model (5-6 strategic focused industries) If IBM dumps 15 industries and they are the ones you are referencing, IBM management doesn’t care They are downsizing big time and that means a lot of folks will be deemed non-essential

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Post ID: @4upa+19q6Rg0a

I respectfully disagree. While we have lost a lot of great talent on my team throughout recent years, the people who are left are very talented and dedicated and have stuck around because they do enjoy their jobs. For the sake of those who are employed and still care, I hope IBM figures out a way to turn things around before they completely ruin the companies they acquired. I realize any effort may be "too little, too late", but I'm holding onto that shred of hope nonetheless.

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Post ID: @4zbg+19q6Rg0a

No talent required. This is the lifecycle stage of a company where management is either a lawyer or a bean counter or both.

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Post ID: @2mjx+19q6Rg0a

To the Redhat guy - @stv+19q6Rg0a - if it was IBM's goal to marry up the Fortune 500 relationships with the RedHat knowledge, then IBM messed up because they laid off much of the Fortune 500 folks that had the relationships, and brought in college kids for those roles as well. And if you look at the RH roster, the knowledge is leaving there now that ibm is forcing their culture down on the RH employees. same old game.. This is not the first acquisition IBM paid for that they blue washed into obsolescence because they forget that relationships of trust take a long time to build, and when you RA them - so goes the relationship.

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Post ID: @1byi+19q6Rg0a

Linkedin tells an interesting story. Today I see older IBMers with vast and relevant experience, announcing their last day at IBM due to RA's, only to scroll down and see interns and college grads announcing how proud they are to accept a position at IBM! A revolving door of out with the old, in with the new.

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Post ID: @1zfv+19q6Rg0a

I am sure IBM has a lot of great young (and older) technical talent. The impact of the constant RAs is that that talent is simply being consumed for what they can do today and not what they can offer in the future as the next generation of leaders of the company. As a departed senior person (RA class of 2019) one of the things I miss most is the inability to be a mentor to the next generation the way I was mentored when starting out and throughout my career.

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Post ID: @1wim+19q6Rg0a

So in Ap we have a smaller market but been told we can only work on specific accounts. So with limited resources people that can work on there knowledge base can’t now, and can only work in areas that probably don’t need them. But can’t work on areas that do need them. This placed is f—ed

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Post ID: @1zed+19q6Rg0a

Can confirm

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Post ID: @pbv+19q6Rg0a

There's no talent left coz no one gives a sh– about employees.
Other tech companies are paying to new grads what ibm pays to stsm.
Also once you negotiate a salary with ibm, it doesn't even increase for inflation - what a f—ing shame

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Post ID: @gnk+19q6Rg0a

You need to modify your statement to say there is no more “legacy” talent left in the company. Guess what. IBM divorced that talent pool back in 2018 when they announced the purchase of Redhat, and they would prefer for that talent pool to exit stage right ASAP. Sure legacy brings in a pile of money, but it’s a diminishing asset (6-8% shrink rate) and IBM knew it had to change strategies if they were to ever get out of the shrinking pool. Why else would you spend 34 billion when your market cap was 100 billion? Everyone keeps looking in the rear view mirror for IBM to save themselves. NOT going to happen and IBM admitted that back in 2018. IBM bought a new strategy and go to market business when they purchased Redhat. The old talent pool is based around HW/SW, and middleware with services to support that thrown in. IBM has now changed the game to Hybrid cloud (yep they were way late and knew public cloud had already reached escape velocity), SW, AI and services to support that thrown in. Legacy talent need not apply because cloud is a new skill set baked into Redhat, and IBM is just purging the legacy out of IBM. Does legacy act as a catalyst to find new Redhat engagements YOU BET, it does. You needed the legacy to grow Redhat as Redhat didn’t have the man power or relationships to spur exponential growth. The merging of Fortune 500 IBM relationships with Redhat skill sets is the goal, with Cloud/AI/SW modernization services thrown in. YEP IBM is going to shrink revenue wise, because OTC HW/SW sales are now not part of the go forward equation. It’s all about steams when you talk about cloud, and the legacy talent team and their OTC pay structure has been replaced with streams. Wave goodbye as the torch has been passed.

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Post ID: @stv+19q6Rg0a

Definitely a vicious cycle downward... the more IBM lays off, the more the revenues go down. The more the revenues go down, the need for layoffs increase... because IBM's exec have a selfish myopic vision and use this company as their piggy bank.

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Post ID: @wtp+19q6Rg0a

It’s a vicious cycle downward. Anyone who has options is going to leave this awful place. Then the performance declines further so more cuts and more mass exodus. As long as we keep selling the same awful products and have same management, nothing is changing. Talk to your friends at other tech companies. They view IBM as a dinosaur.

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Post ID: @ffx+19q6Rg0a

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