Thread regarding IBM layoffs

You could try the Marine Corps also. I went to the Navy recruiter then the Marine recruiter and wasn’t sure. I went in the Army National Guard and then got a transfer to the Regular Army and was lucky my guard unit released me. Whatever you do, active duty is better then reserve or guard.

Pay off any debts you can, then join the Army .. Later you’ll think of doing something different. Maybe go in the Navy.. Good Luck

Bud! Pull it together and prioritize yourself and your family. Fake it till you find another job! Trust me, so many people without a job right now. Count yourself lucky you have a pay check while you look for a new job. They are out there. Leverage your outside network or build one on LinkedIn. You got this!

Here’s my advice to the 41 yr old and 60 yr old and anyone else interested.
After 36yrs recently RAd

1. Use all the benefits like a gym, get a therapist, do new certifications.
2. Make you #1, they don’t care if you work 40,60,80 hrs take care of you 1st.
3. Keep your resume updated every 6 months or year.
4. Connect with everyone on LinkedIn and use those ppl to find a new job.
5. Live under your means/salary etc and put max into 401k / savings.
6. When ready ask for a package it can be a good thing if you’re ready!

Good luck and know you are not alone!

In this day and age of AI, outsourcing and rapid advancement, tech industry pace is extremely fast and wants young people in their 20’s or 30’s; however the pasture may not be greener or the other side; due to its history, IBM is considered an aging dinosaur; at 50, in other tech leaders companies, you are automatically replaced

@dh

I would read a book. For me the books of James Harriot such as All creature great and small did the trick. I have been reading these books over 30 years again and again and learned so much from it. Please try. Just a chapter and then decide.

I hear you. I am a STSM (Band 10) with 30 years tenure who just turned 60. My influence in this executive-focused top-down company is now next to nil. The execs come with the stupidest ideas that you can provide oodles of evidence why they should do the opposite but they just do what they feel like, ignoring experts like me. I don't know what I am doing here anymore. Dunning and Krueger must both be Band Bs at IBM.

Given my expertise is no longer valued, it just underscores that I am a Band 10 IC with a 6 in front of my age. Still get great performance reviews but when 90% of your team has been cut in just 2 years and your own manager talks about his own career ending soon, what do you believe?

I have always been an ambitious thinker who loves to innovate but when you are now "old" at a company where innovation is dead - I mean so very very dead - the writing is on the wall. My time is nearly up. I am fighting like he-l to stay relevant but I am losing.

But the job market is really bad. I have no commute now but several of the jobs I have been offered would require extensive commutes of 5 hours per day. I cannot do that. And they all pay LESS than what IBM paid me. I still have kids in school and cannot retire. I feel trapped and think of self harm a lot as a way out.

This is not how I thought a successful career at IBM would work out - looking for tall bridges because you can no longer pay down the mortgage, pay for
health insurance, pay for college and save for retirement with the jobs that are available to me. I know it sounds stupid but I can now think of worse things than not existing.

60-something RA'd contractor here: I've known many colleagues who were experiencing your problem and treating it in a similar fashion. It's not you, it's IBM. Sounds like you are on a path that could lead to bad things, so take the other posters' advice and start looking elsewhere. The rest of the corporate world, even the tech corporate world, is not as oppressive as IBM. At least not in the 21st century. The company is surviving on its past history of accomplishments. Soon, the bill will come due for them and they'll likely wither away. Today's IBM is a hollow shell of the original Thomas Watson IBM. But because they made so many tech advances so early in the "computer age," they still have this image as an innovator. Not true today. They are a revenue-focused, cost-cutting machine designed to preserve executive pay, bonuses and stock options. I'd suggest you talk with someone who can listen ...religious leader, therapist, bar tender ... and begin to look for another job. Best of luck to you.

You are not your employer. You are not your occupation. You are not your title. You are not your annual salary. Your work life is not your real life, your colleagues are neither your friends nor your family. Your real life is your life outside work, the time you spend with your real family, your real friends, and doing things you enjoy on a personal level. If you're saying to yourself that you have no life outside work, take steps to change that today. Or else you will come to deeply regret that at some point in the next 20 or so years and it will be too late then.

Looking back (bit older now), what helped me was to focused on daily joy of raising kids and building a life with my wife. As for work, I focused on getting through the immediate quarter (and never really thought beyond that). I guess difference from you appears that I always worked independent with quantitative targets, so minimal interaction with my many managers.

Most of all, I (and my family) lived a VERY modest life - WELL below my income. If you don't need money, you won't stress about money.

BTW, drinking and smoking weed seem to me a great idea! I am certainly enjoying them.

I don't know what exactly you do. I was a software developer (now retired and way more than 20 years older than you are.) I would imagine that it doesn't really matter what you do: this age (41) is kind of horrible; younger people jump around like a CEO at a Coldplay show; older people are now getting locked in; if you are not on a trajectory to be CEO, the lock in is not all that great.

I was never on a trajectory for Rob Thomas style greatness. But I did have some skills which I kept current. The reason that was important is that the only real raises I ever got after age 41 happened when I took those skills and got real offers from other companies. The world was different 20-30 years ago and remote work was not common. For family reasons, I was not really keen on moving but would do it. The first time I told them I was leaving, I was shocked: WHY THE H-LL DID YOU NOT OFFER ME THIS BEFORE? And I had to do this a few more times. The only rule is: you absolutely, positively have to have a foot out the door. If they think for one second that you are playing around, you get nothing but if they believe you, they will talk.

I'm not sure if you are doing this, but the very first thing you must be doing is: keep your resume very current. Let me clarify that for the kids listening in tonight: keep your LinkedIn profile as fresh and exciting as you can. If you do something awesome, add it to your profile. (The flip side is that there is zero in it for you to update your W3 profile....those updates are just a waste of your time. Just let the default garbage get added from time to time.)

The next thing is: keep in touch with folks you liked working with and who moved on. In my case (and I am sure in everyone's case) there are these random good things that magically appear if you nurture this channel.

At age 41, obviously you are wondering about making it to 70. But that assumes a fairly static "stay with IBM and never rock the boat" proposition. We don't really know what IBM will be like in 30 years or even if it will still be around. So (sort of re-enforcing an earlier point) you need to broaden your thinking. Imagine an amazing opportunity comes up because you pursued it. Even though you may have kids and a mortgage, you cannot be completely adverse to risk.

I am pretty sure you will make it to 70 years of age. I am actually less sure what IBM will be like in 30 years. So even at this age, you need to be adaptable. Keep your resume up to date. Keep your ears open. Be ready to make that epic move when it presents itself.

Replace one cup coffee with 30 minutes workout and one drink with another 30 minutes.
It won’t solve your problem but it will keep you a bit healthier while you sort things out.