Thread regarding IBM layoffs

• 2020 IBM Resource Action Thread: @11JibZyK or https://www.thelayoff.com/t/11JibZyK

IBM has really really disappointed thousands of employees who are affected with this layoff based on age (employee age 50 or older) and years of services. Good new is that there are way too many even better companies out there. Never forgiven what you have done to employees who are affected with no good reason. Never and Never.

Same here with 20 years working my a– off and 50 years old with 2+ score years after years. Yes, god who cares how good you are doing your work. I got layoff with 90 days to find a job (that is BS but just wanted to make themselves as a company looking good). Even worst, I applied for an internal job which I am completely qualified for that position and got an interview with the hiring manager. Afterward, got no further feedback after a few following up email sent directly to a hiring manager. He did not even open my email. Making me f—ng f—ng mad. I am still mad until today and will never forget such horrible employer to work with.

IBM LAYOFFS 2019 @VZzqzzM

@8hpqy - you are wrong. Mike G could sit in a room during the meeting or sit in his car. Why is the room better than the car? Working from home or remote works perfectly well if the job does not require physical presence. Of course some people might slack off but those people would also slack off in the office.

IBM remote workers or work from home is non-productive - takimg home to to school, One man in Canada (Mike G) his team in U.S. He takes his son to school daily during meeting. andother Diane Magarita work from home in U.S doing nothing, bue manager takins care them it's a political, in order survice you have in the gane

IBM Class Action Age Discrimination Lawsuit: Shannon Liss Riordan is taking employees 55 & older (from anywhere in the US) laid off - whether or not they signed the Separation or Bridge Agreements https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2018/09/18/the-ibm-age-discrimination-lawsuit-will-shed-light-on-this-harrowing-trend/#1103da745ce1

Once you hit 55, the axe starts to fall. Has anyone been terminated, and then when they went to sign their papers have a bait and switch? Managers are shoving Bridge to retirement agreements in people's faces to sign instead. It's coercion. They want to keep the layoff numbers down.

I can't fathom how they can change the severance pay. When I was absorbed by IBM, we were sold on the company culture and being true blue etc. Part of the reason I didn't jump ship was that they had specific benefits at the time. I never imagined a company would or could change the severance pay package. There's got to be a better way around that. 1 month for working at IBM for decades doesn't jive. We don't get raises, the deductions from my check go up each year, the insurance benefits cost more and coverage shrinks, we don't even get a cost of living raise even if we're top performers and this is due to budget constraints, or it's that someone who is friendlier or closer to the boss gets the small raises. We're working for less and less money every year. How can IBM promote it's ideals internally and then publicly 8itch slap us.

So Christmas 2018 is approaching and will anyone take a bet to say IBM won't layoff, or off shore more jobs. This could be in the US, Europe or Asia, nothing should be ruled out by Ginni and her elves. Profit warnings or contractions in sales pipelines are the usual trigger. Hey, Ginni may even be looking to buy a firm, tupee people into IBM, and then fire longer serving people to balance the resource numbers.

Anyway, who knows what plans she has, but the following is interesting reading. Whilst I have nothing against people in IBM India, there are more people employed by IBM, there, than there are in the US. The wages in IBM India are one half, and as little as one fifth of those for the same role in the States and most of Europe. Hell, I'd even been asked to move off shored jobs from Polan, to India, because the wages were cheaper. When will IBM and dear Ginni look to move jobs away from India and into lower waged countries? It will come, and all in the name of squeezing yet a further dollar for the billions of dollars profit they register each year.

I believe dear Ginni is killing what used to be a great and well respected company, making it a bigger and bigger joke. Many companies have closed the door on IBM, due to the poor quality of service they receive for heavily inflated prices. Her vision of AI is stumbling and the likes of Amazon are ahead in this area of the industry.

So, as an ex and a little bitter IBM'er with 15 years of service, dodging the layoff axe, I wish the remaining humans in IBM all the luck in the World. I would like to highlight though that IBM will not look after you, they will use you, chew you up and throw you to the kerb. The longer you've worked for IBM, the greater risk of this happening. Luck after yourself and your family, always look for a move out of this company, before it gets rid of you. It's not a case of if, it's more and more a case of when.

Good luck, whether in the US, Europe, India or anywhere else.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/technology/ibm-india.html

Layoffs will be very large in 2018, again, compared to 2017. Look at this link and search for 'rebalancing' (aka layoff expenses). Note that in 1H 2017, these expenses totaled in $171 million. For the entire 2017 year, the number equaled $199 million. 2018 first half is already triple the number for all of 2017.

Observe that layoff expenses in 1H 2018 spiked up to $563 million--that's just for 1H. So 1H is triple the number for all of 2017. Layoff expenses spiked in 2016--after severances were reduced to 1-month--the 2016 year-total number equaled $1.038 Billion, the year of crushing destruction. 2014 was a record high year of $1.5B of layoff expenses, but b/c the severance changes did not take effect yet, it was merely destruction.

Good luck. See the link

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000110465918048404/a18-14112_110q.htm

IBM's MO has been to have a space of a couple weeks/1.5 month separation between announcing quarterly numbers to the "Street" and next batch of layoffs. Another cruel MO of IBM's to announce the RA's the Thursday before a major US Holiday(Easter 2018 and Memorial Weekend 2018. The next one is next Thursday August 30th. I'm in the ill-conceived IBM Watson Health Unit. WH has been in existence for 3 year with the bulk of the unit came through 3 major acquisitions (Phytel, Explorys, Truven). I am part of the later which was 50% of all of IBM WH.

Word is that 80% of the 1st, 50% of the 2nd and up 25% of the 3rd were RA'd.

Has anyone heard if they are done or are more coming shortly?

Frustrated TSH employee.

RA'd in April - 90 days to find a job + 1 month pay. Worked in services for 10 years, always 2+ or 1 on PBC. Our whole unit is in complete ruins. A few years back, upper management decided to change the way our unit was to be eval'd. Switched from cost of business (as most orgs treat SaaS services, churn reduce, etc) to billable hours. 0 services sales pipeline set up to support this kind of abrupt shift. Most customers won't purchase what they had been getting for free. Not enough meat on the bone to support the unit and we started getting mowed down. I survived 3 rounds.

I had a good boss and a bad boss late. The bad one, who I never met, was weak and ineffective. The good one was just getting tossed around like a small ship at sea. I couldn't be too sure if upper management was the same way, too far separated.

Recently started at a newer, smaller company and everything is so much better it makes me feel badly for my teammates still there. Get out!

The morale of IBM employees has steadily declined over the last 20 years. This is due to poor management and their lack of respect for their employees. Ginni has been really bad for IBM. I can't imagine why she is still employed.

I am happy to say that I decided to retire in March 2017 & am thrilled to be away from the politics of that place.

Don't get why some gotta be a dk - we all have been impacted by the Dehumanization and this site has been helpful to countless beemers - be gone if u r just gonna spew

You folks are something else, seriously. You saw the signs, you heard the complaints but you really didn't care until YOU got hit. NOW it's an issue. Boo-who. Join the team, s--- it up, move on. You thought YOU were special...you weren't. When you leave be smart about it. Wipe you computer clean to the blue screen, check and see if your state offers unemployment benefits...California does but IBM will tell you they don't. One escalation and bam!!! unemployment checks for at least six weeks. Look it up...has to do with IBM not funding retirement anymore. It's out there. Don't hate on me I was an IBM vet for 32 years. Glad I got RA'd....six months severance, unemployment and retirement pension. Turn this into something positive. IBM still looks good on a resume. Oh and complain all you want...Ginny ain't going anywhere.

This happened to me in 1993, calling it "voluntary redundancy "and they have been doing it every year since. I just don't see how they keep getting away with it as they just recruit more younger, cheaper staff each time once it's blown over. I was also encouraged to take my pension out of the company as it was "in severe financial trouble" by their recommended financial advisor. I tried to rectify this after a few years but was unable to and now have a very measly pension.

I was notified of my RA in May 2018. I'm 66 years old and IBM does not hide the fact that it is replacing people of 50 with younger unskilled talent. The customer base is livid. IBM is replacing it's hard staff with business partners that do not have all of the skills required to do pre-sales, post-sales and services engagements.

I have had outstanding performance reviews and was integral in the closing of 10s of millions of dollars worth of new business. So it's not performance and it's not revenue. It's age discrimination. I am a retired, handicapped Army veteran. Makes no difference to IBM.

I took a layoff package several years after witnessing one of the biggest layoffs in IBM history - the only reason I was not laid off then was because I was a software Engineer and there was a need for us - I was part of the OS2 group before Windows took over. I did start a "Plan B" after the big layoffs and after 18 months my part time income exceeded my full time income I volunteered/took a layoff package. If anyone is interested in owning your own life and never worrying about layoffs again click on the "Own Your Own Life" icon on my blog at www.MountainNetworker.com - I'd be glad to show you how to replace your IBM salary while working from home (been working from home 10+ years now)

Does anyone know what the current IBM severance plan looks like? It used to be two weeks for every year of service but if you had got bought out by another company and then came back to IBM you only got the years of service after you got back and they didn’t count the ones that you first had with IBM

This maybe helpful

https://www.theregister.co.uk/AMP/2018/04/27/exec_pay_in_2017_bernstein_report/

I have done more than 3 MN USD on an IC role as a Tech Resource . This was 50% of my Brand Product, Many of the Deals seller was not involved. But i am being asked to Quit in India. They Rated me very poor and there are more than 100 employee like me. I have devoted my days and nights for this company but now i think we all shd not be focusing on dedication and team work.

Layoffs are okay but how you select the employee for Layoff is really annoying. I know many ladies and Bastards who havent sell anything in last one year and they are still with IBM.

Believe me they are gonna sink heavily.

Buffet is right. Move your stocks. Its going to be a Penny Stock Company.

Watson , Weather , Cloud - These 3 Things will sink this ship.

In Norway a complete SAP/Hosting team gets killed by the IBM management.

And they made money for IBM almost 100% util.... And good contracts with lage customers.

And no selection on who to keep and who to let go......Even the top performers are kicked out.

But on management level no one is leaving......

And the poor lucky ones are looking if the is luck or not.........Only an delay in execution maybe....

Management does not care if IBM dies as long as they get their payoff. There is no other explanation for what they do. The company cannot survive.

IBM management is no more than a pack of wolves in sheep's clothing. Without a doubt the most arrogant group of hypocrites ever assembled

When things go wrong the blame game begins and the people at the bottom of the totem pole suffer. I've watched individuals get promoted who made million dollar mistakes repeatedly, while trampling on coworkers. Little doubt that "cooking the books" has it's rewards. Earnings per employee starts at the top by making employees successful, not covering up waste and errors with layoffs.

"-- it is because we have a long list of partners, managing partners, vice presidents, sector leaders and go to market leaders that are just not fit for their posts if all they can do is draw hefty salaries and drive a thriving company to its knees."... Totally Agree

Current employee with GBS / SAP. Very sad to see that a company spirals downward with bad management. No focus on core skills and all we offer is partner heavy project management. Customers have become smart and no wonder IBM is loosing all accounts. Partners made it big due to PwC acquisitions 20 + yrs back when the consulting market was very different. If you are looking for a company that is passionate about its practice, prides itself in its delivery, has a no nonsense management and rewards / promotes people that deliver and is ahead of the market, IBM is not for you. Stay away if you value your sanity. Now all they can do is systematically reduce staff so that they can reduce the bench, but the pathetic situation is not due to their consultants.. it is due to their ineffective leadership, a pathetic "tiger team" that have no selling skills and a company that does not invest in upskilling their employees in skills that matter. Low Chargeability is not due to the fact that we have ample of work and no qualified consultants -- it is because we have a long list of partners, managing partners, vice presidents, sector leaders and go to market leaders that are just not fit for their posts if all they can do is draw hefty salaries and drive a thriving company to its knees.

I had over 40 years in the industry and I watched IBM go all the way down from the best place to work to the tragedy it is today. As bad as outsiders think it is you can't imagine how we feel.

I think the most poorly managed section of IBM is GTS. We see a lot of unworthy people in top positions. Employees who doesn't have any skills on the product are hired from bench or other teams. What's worse is they are not even groomed. A few good employees have to do all the major tasks and bear the brunt of all this. Appraisal is a joke ! I didn't even have one ! Now the major update- Recently people who wrongly clocked their shift allowance were asked to resign. Now you can't say that it's a layoff! No more work from home options. IBM is the worst thing that I have seen in my 12 years in the industry.

Another big RA in GBS this week, including me (quite surprised), 3 years at IBM the second time around. Also heard many CBD'ers cut, so not sure how pervasive it was, but think significant after another earnings miss this week.

Getting 90 days, then 1 month...sayonara

Same here with the sales PIP issue. But, I wasn't told about my 6 month PIP until 3 months into the half. And, I had sold and shipped more than enough new gear in the half to cover my quota, not just the PIP, to a GTS client. But, I later found out that GTS accounts half to half new gear installed (code 20'd) to get sales credit. Oddly, refurbed (GARS) gear gets credit upon shipping. Turns out the services did not (delayed?) install for over 6 months. I was let go last August after almost 5 years of good sales and service. Despite having 4 sales managers (2 who cared and 2 who were mostly AWOL), 6 systems engineers, and 5 comp plan and territory changes. In retrospect, I'm shocked I was able keep my head above water and make money for as long as I did. I'm now a 60 year old male and apparently as many interviews have proven, I am not hirable by OEM IT HW/SW manufacturers.

Hearing that a lot of Tech Sales that specialized in the IBM Tivoli mainframe products got hit.

21 years at IBM with good or exceptional ratings. Received my notice that I will be out of a job in 90 days or re-train. In a way, it's a relief. The absolutely ridiculous decisions being made. Profit is more important than customers. I am sure that they are bringing in college age kids and booting the senior employees. Sell your stock! Warren Buffett did. I bet he knows what the future of IBM holds.

I'm retired 2 years ago as of March 31 2018 after almost 35 years of service. Ginnie has basically destroyed a once great company that we all respected for so many years for their pro employee attitude. She constantly was rewarded for under performing quarter after quarter. How can this be I ask ??? When are the board of directors and Ginnie going to be canned ??? I had so many useless executives over me during the end of my service like George Fax 3rd line in particular who was more interested in bragging about himself than doing anything of value it disgusted my fellow employees and myself. They are still there even after the lousy revenue results just s---ing the life out of the company and the remaining employees. Nobody gives a crap about working and are just waiting to be canned.

22 years at ibm, 48 yo, always good ratings, just given 90 days with one month severance. Yes to class action. Still in shock.

9 year employee, received high marks throughout my tenure with IBM including last year. Was given the 90-day window to find a job, and 1 month severance pay. Ginny, the million-dollar bonus CEO completely destroyed this once proud company. What a disgrace. Anyone feel like an age discrimination class-action lawsuit would be the right way to go? Would you join a CA against IBM?

Ginny needs to go. If a sales person misses their quota number under 70% for 2 consecutive 6 month periods then they are placed on Pip to be let go. Ginny has missed her number for over 14 consecutive quarters and continues to get raises and remain on CEO . Buffet saw this and started rotating out of IBM stock position at an accelerated rate . Seems to me the board needs to revamped as well as C-suite and upper management direct reports. New leadership needed pronto.

I am happy I took the Transition to Retirement plan recently. I have only 45 days left. Cannot wait. Things are not going in the right direction.

Cheers,

Oscar WH

IBM Is @ it again letting go of the hard working people. All I will say is there are FLM that do nothing for you and they talk behind your back never telling you the truth. I think IBM would do the best for this company. Getting rid of all the management. Software sales cloud services and the worst one is analytics someone will have the guts to let’s your customers understand how much IBM doesn’t care about their business it’s just money. And HR best of luck in the future.

Recent article quote - "In the past five years, the investigation found more than 20,000 IBM workers — about 60 percent of its estimated total U.S. job cuts in that period — were over the age of 40. IBM, which still employs 400,000 people worldwide, flouted domestic laws and regulations protecting older workers from age discrimination by not providing information on why they were fired, required them to sign away the right to sue IBM and converted job cuts into retirements to avoid public disclosure requirements."