38k in NA will get notified this Thur. Your FLM will send invite Wed after 6pm.
104 replies (most recent on top)
There is yet one other issue to be considered when it comes to legacy products within IBM. That is the IP licensing potential. Job 1 under Ginni and within IBM Infrastructure has been to maximize IP revenue while minimizing physical costs. Outsourcing Power and Storage has the potential to offload 2/3rds of Infrastructures physical costs while still harvesting their IP content. Ric Lewis certainly has that as one of his objectives on his performance plan. Oh and where did Ric come from? Yep HPE Let the negotiating begin
9fsn There are several pieces to be weighed in this equation. The question on the HW is how can the purchaser leverage the component supply chain making margin on the components due to larger component buys. A second question would be would IBM offer to split the development costs plus guarantee an exclusive purchase agreement (see GF deal). A third part of the equation would be at what purchase price would IBM part with the infrastructure. IBM has already shown they will pay folks to take divisions off their hands if the terms are aligned with what they are after (eg head count reduction and less investment to keep a product line going) Finally can the purchaser leverage the product set among their established customers? (HPE’s unix install BASE jumps to mind as well as Lenovo’s). There is also the case for a purchaser to expand their offerings. For example Kyndryl has the required skill base, Power and storage are still quite profitable, but just not driving volumes, and it would be far easier for Kyndryl to strike a relationship with HPE and Lenovo vs IBM as well as several large ISV’s including IBM themselves. Yes it’s a Gordian knot to be untied, but there is a business case where both entities come out as winners. The terms will decide if a deal can be struck. It took IBM 4 tries to shop Intel servers to Lenovo, and I suspect IBM under AK is far more willing to shop storage and Power if the terms line up with AK’s vision (eg enterprise).
@7sgh Setting aside Power*, the challenge with Storage is that the revenue comes from hardware while the profit comes from software.
Most of the software is not tied to IBM hardware, so it could easily be separated and sold to somebody that knows how to manage and sell software and/or can leverage their own hardware with it. HPE comes to mind (not Dell though: too much overlap with their own software).
The hardware on the other hand... what is there that anybody would want to own, now that TMS has been run into the ground?
*The only potential buyer for Power that I can imagine is a private equity firm wanting to ride the maintenance stream all the way down.
This tells an interesting tale for Power, TSS and storage. Note you would be looking at different revenue amounts depending on what IBM may decided if they decide to spin off
Power and its TSS = -3.5 billion
power, storage, and its associated TSS = - 8.75 billion
Scale out power, scale out storage and their associated TSS = - 4.4 billion
All are viable, but doing the scale out option (almost zero profit) eliminates 75-85% of the headcount while keeping the enterprise side of the house (almost all of infrastructures profit) with far less headcount. The question is can IBM find a customer or does it go to Kyndryl as that’s IBM’s elephant grave yard
https://www.itjungle.com/2022/03/07/the-low-down-on-ibms-power-systems-sales/
@7gvk I integrate and correct: " ... they redeploy people into units of STAFF (so cross industry ..."
@6kxu I agree. And I add. The creative disruption of HR is without limits. For example in Europe they redeploy people into units (so cross industry and client and not directly connected to a client) typically composed by older workers (above fifty, 50, usually) of or pariahs or unwanted, apparently to provide support to projects and, as soon as possible, in the next RA, they declare them in surplus or they outsource them (to allow to the next firm, which include them, the burden of layoff). Here, in Europe, the unions that should exist, don't do more infact they pretend not to see the realty until they take note by the local firm (IBM globally is organized in local firms but commanded by the corporate), in the next RA, of the reduction targets, casually composed of units of people mentioned above. So the strategy is always the same what change are just the methods. It's a shame. Worse than certain fakes by dictators.
IBM seems to have accomplished exactly what they are after (stealth layoffs). I have confirmed that folks were impacted over several locations. I guess practice makes perfect, and IBM has certainly learned over the last 5 years how to avoid the spotlight. As to the person who keeps saying fake news, let me ask you how many folks from Europe posted they were impacted on this board even after IBM confirmed 10k were impacted last fall? Yep that’s what I thought (you are just a troll trying to stir the mud). 8k in two waves to stay under the radar in the USA seems quite reasonable. It alines with a previous poster who said approx 25% was the goal. 70k x .25 = 17.5k The more interesting part of the speculation was the RD idea. It lines up with the WH spin-off (3-4k impacted) and IBM pocketing over 1 billion to throw at the RA’s. The real question is will IBM bite the bullet, and exit some other non-strategic businesses? Remember BAIN recommended this back in 2018 before Covid got in the way. I suspect IBM has dusted off the old recommendations, and is revisiting this. The revenue sacrifice, vs the cost impact to IBM’s balance sheet is most likely the deciding factor. Time will tell, but I expect AK had to answer those questions while interviewing for the CEO position. Obviously the board liked what he said, as he is now the boss. As to where he is heading, ask yourself what pieces of IBM don’t appear to be strategic (Hybrid, AI, Redhat, or mainframe aligned), and what pieces if discarded wouldn’t greatly impact the revenue stream? The answers present themselves quite easily and the real question is when will they be discarded, not if.
I personally know 5 and all where over 55
Fake news. No layoffs. This is one person making multiple posts.
Conspiracy theory: IBM HR actually plants rumours of RA's here to convince employees (outside the US, where you get screwed) to hang on a little longer in hope of getting a severance package.
....now back to working on my resume.
I'm guessing it's a fraud (again). Probably the same lonely, bored person posting over and over that they were on the list. No other news source reporting this yet.
Not a single corroborating detail in any post yet - BU, location, band, years in IBM... Nothing.
Is this really happening or just as-----s being cruel?
Please share your BU, Years of experience, Years in IBM, Band, Role etc.
Please share BU/DIV/ Team
last day 6/30
Same thing. Just got a Slack message with the proverbial: "Got a minute?"
Real classy.
I didn't even get an invite just a ping asking if I was free to talk
30 day severance
Last day is 6/30, BUT are they offering 30/90 days like the previous offers as your free parting gifts
1 month severance Last day is 6/30
What are the details of the Package?
Another one
Which groups are receiving the meeting invites?
Got mine yippee
Ditto 10 min call scheduled for 9:20
Got my invite
Add Big Bleu to this list soon. . .
A wave of layoffs is sweeping the US. Here are firms that have announced cuts so far, from Carvana to Wells Fargo --
https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-sweeping-the-us-these-are-the-companies-making-cuts-2022-5
Check you're in box after midnight. I believe they are dated to be released on the 26th of May
I heard those affected by RA will be contacted in AM.
In 2019 they did RA the Thursday after Memorial Day.
Check Back again.
Crickets. Shocker.
My flm has not sent me an email. Should not take long to hit send on an email that's already queued up right? Then again Microsoft Outlook seems to hang on to most of my email for five or six hours before letting me receive it. I know that's off topic but anyone else experiencing that?
RAs are torture. Period. And we have them every year. Gross...
Interesting, I received an invite for Friday, apparently getting new manager due to “sector re alignment”, anyone else?
Go ahead, make my day IBM! I'll be happy to have the summer off :D
Not long until we find out if this has substance or not.
yep i guess it's a weak rumor lets move on
Fake. Period.
Whenever we have a RA in works we always get good posts here that are coming from multiple angles, different people describing different things.
Here we have a single person saying a random thing. Nobody else is talking about it.
Thumbs down.
The CHRO has said no more RAs, so they have to call them something different. PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) are specific to performance problems, which many employees have due to the fact IBM has them. However, even though PIPs are being abused now, that only goes so far. Hence "RDs" possibly becoming the new RA.
I am no longer in a position to have any inside knowledge of RAs/RDs however. Therefore, I can neither confirm nor deny the claims here. After working at IBM for many years, nothing surprises me anymore though.
It sure appears via the scuttlebutt that IBM is restructuring to an enterprise model. If the posts are true, they are about to RA (Dumping consulting industries where it chooses not to play, Dumping SW overlap (most likely legacy SW that competes with Redhat). It also appears that IBM is going to exit a segment via RD (most likely TSS, but it could expand to low profit HW too) It’s going to be a couple of quite stressful days until the smoke clears. Good luck to all who are impacted