IBM recently announced a plan that will force nearly all of its US Marketing workforce to relocate to one of 5 cities in the US where they will be required to work from IBM offices. The workers will no longer be able to work remote from home offices.
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Posted on Watching IBM
Please post anonymously: For those being “co-located” there are some things you should know. Executive management has been compiling a list of FAQ but has instructed mid-manager it is not to be shared. As unexpected situations arise, the answers to the questions are being changed to side with the company and not the employee. Case in point: They never anticipated an employee declining the move AND giving notice the day the official calls were made. Advice: Make sure your decision to move, whatever it is, is in writing and separate from any other communication related to your decision to leave the company. Also, make sure your decision to move is BEFORE you communicate any other intentions. Also, in these FAQs that are not being shared – you won’t know the answer if you don’t ask the question – If you do relocate and then leave the company in 6 months after relocating, you will owe 100% of the moving expenses to the company. If you leave the company between 6 months and one year, you will owe the company 50% of the moving expenses. There is also a calculation being used to determine whether you are eligible for relocation assistance. The figure that is being circulated is 50 miles. If you live within 50 miles of your assigned workplace, there is no M&L offered. What is not being circulated is this: If you live 30 miles from your current work location and you commute that 30 miles daily and your new assigned work location is 75 miles away from your home, they are subtracting your current commute of 30 miles from your new commute of 75 miles: 45 miles = no M&L. Just ask, ask, and ask as many questions as possible. Try to ask and receive answers via email or some writing. Our leaders are being encouraged to have conversations – it’s much harder to document a phone call.
Yep - its for real as has been speculated for months. 'Re location' as its called is really nothing more than a layoff without the severance because if you don't agree to move the city they assign you too (and it's not always the closest city to you) you have to leave the company. It's shameful and there are many speculating that with so many tenured people leaving it may well put the company into an even deeper spiral than they are already in. Good luck to those affected.