Thread regarding IBM layoffs

Same stuff different day.

10ish years ago IBM closed the offices and had everyone work from home. This was a cost-saving move that had nothing to do with effectiveness or efficiency. No one in the management field thought people worked better then and nobody believes it now. In fact, more companies are bringing their employees back into offices. From an organizational effectiveness perspective, it makes perfect sense. The problem is in how IBM is doing it.

One can only assume that Armonk is expecting a lot of people to "resign". The counter that "you'd move if you were a true IBMer and if you're not then we don't want you" is nonsense. The reason I've Been Moved was acceptable was because that's how you got ahead. You moved to jobs that were bigger, different, or in some other way positioned you for advancement. That was the social contract.

That's completely different than this new approach that expects people to uproot their families simply to maintain their professional status quo. It's the same sort of junior varsity move as holding off 401(k) matching until December so they don't have to contribute to employees fired in November. They ask for loyalty but offer none in return and then feign surprise when someone says no.

The centralizing itself makes sense. And it's fine if they want to drop old lines of business but they should own up to their own mistakes and do a formal resource action rather asking employees to jump off a cliff. Cowardice is rarely in a company's long-term interest.