Welcome to IBM Employee News and Links

News and Opinion Concerning Health Savings Accounts, Medical Costs and Health Care Reform

• Yahoo! message board post: "Re: UAW contract news" by "dave49_98". Full excerpt: Thanks for your comments. I am saying that one party is putting forward plans to change and the other party is still running Harry and Louise ads. the difference is, while the ads are the same, people do NOT have the health care they had in the early 1990.

  Health care in the US is insurance, middleman driven based on denying care after people are sick. The rest of the industrialized world delivers preventative health care and treats people before they really get sick, giving them better outcomes than the US.

New on the Alliance@IBM Site:

• From the Job Cuts Status & Comments page
  • Comment 09/29/07: I can't wait to submit my resignation letter, this company is getting ridiculous. I feel like an ass bi***ing about it, but most of the services division has become hell. The few of us that are left are typically insanely over worked and are dealing with sub par resources in (insert your fav. 3rd world country here). Now they're patenting how to do it, sickening. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/29/1734209 -waitingtoleave-
  • Comment 09/29/07: Just a note to say that I, too, left a couple of years ago and if you know you are going to leave, definitely begin to look outside, per post from ex-IBMer. It is VERY difficult to find another job within IBM. I had a last-minute offer from a manager, and a day later she had to reneg so I'm guessing because management said no, I was slated to leave. On a positive note, after you get through the initial few months after leaving and find something else, I think that most of you will find yourself much happier. I went into education--along with a lot of other IBMers, some who were RA'd and others who just quit (even executives) because they couldn't take it.

    My salary is now only slightly lower than what I made at IBM and there is nothing like getting home at 2:45 and having time to spend with your families, friends, do errands, etc. And having summers off is wonderful!!! Just an idea because they do need more teachers in NY state and you WILL retire with a pension and health benefits!! Also, since we're unionized, you get pretty decent raised yearly and also when you complete a certain number of courses your salary automatically is increased. Being in a union gives you a much better sense of security! -Anonymous-

  • Comment 09/29/07: Regarding: My salary is now only slightly lower than what I made at IBM and there is nothing like getting home at 2:45 and having time to spend with your families, friends, do errands, etc. And having summers off is wonderful!!! Just an idea because they do need more teachers in NY state and you WILL retire with a pension and health benefits!! Also, since we're unionized, you get pretty decent raised yearly and also when you complete a certain number of courses your salary automatically is increased. Being in a union gives you a much better sense of security! This is so sad. Our childrens' future is being determined by some loser who got fired, and just wants to get home early, and have summers off. This is exactly why the USA is going into the tank. Whatever happened to dedication to teaching? -SoSad-
  • Comment 09/30/07: -SoSad- You have it entirely wrong. You mean to tell me that you do not look forward to going home and seeing your family? Or perhaps you have no family, because you committed all of your time to your employer like a fool. Just remember, it is not your employer who makes you who you are, it is your family. Your employer doesn't stand behind you 100% if you are right or wrong, but your family does. Your employer isn't affected by anything if you get fired (although we all would like to believe contrary), but your family is directly affected. I feel sorry for the people here who would rather spend more time on the job than with their family. -Anonymous-
  • Comment 10/01/07: People like Gerstner and Palmisano have set the the trend that dedication is only for fools. When you stab people in the back, you lose dedication because people naturally will tend to watch out for number 1 the next time. The trend that's bringing America down is judgmental fools that make judgments based on faulty data and would rather hurt other people and make money than analyze the facts.

    BTW, teaching is a very draining job. I guess, however, having never done it yourself you have no idea of what I am saying. The best teachers are those focused on teaching then resting. They make fewer mistakes, and their rest gives them the ability to be patient, guiding instructors. If the current set of IBM employees would teach, they'd fail;, because they are all stressed out and overworked, which makes them poor teachers.

    Dedication does not mean overworking a person to death, no matter what they do. Unless, of course you are a trained slave driver, like most IBM leadership. That's why IBMers keep working harder and the company keeps falling further behind in the market. Flogging kids, like IBM employees or common slaves can only produce productivity for just a short period. After that, the condemned realize that any more sacrifice just isn't worth it. Just see IBM's current workforce as evidence. -Trend Watcher-

  • Comment 10/01/07: This article outlines what is happening at one site in Canada. This is a huge client and it looks like it's going to Brazil. This client has successful been running here in Canada for 5 years, now, poof, gone, and probably at least a few dozen jobs with it. With the Canadian dollar on par now, things are even more dismal. Good Luck to us all...we're going to need it. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i2GvQYHen7AyfilB80CJRytSsHHg -Soon to be RA'ed-
  • Comment 10/03/07: Retirement package quietly being offered in GTS America Sales. Definite confirmation. -Retirement Package-
• General Visitor's Comment page:
  • Comment 10/01/07: IBM's use of the patent process is absurd. They would patent sunshine if they thought it would benefit the company. They submit many ridiculous patent applications for purposes of image. I remember one patent actually submitted and granted for a search algorithm. Those of us who worked on the generating project were glad the application was granted. That way no one would ever be stupid enough to try to use that search method again. It resulted in continuous loops and was slower than the more common types. -RA'd bear-
  • Comment 10/02/07: What a farce this "process of outsourcing" patent is. First, if the process they "invented" is so good, wouldn't it be more valuable to leave it proprietary then to try to patent it. Since when do people license an outsourcing process? Do people license the RUP? Or do they follow the RUP and license the software tools that makes following the RUP easier? It looks to me that IBM has a lot of employees that don't have much actual work to do so they do things like create worthless patents and write research papers that no one will ever read. -patentboobs-
  • Comment 10/03/07: Watch those expense account submissions. I have heard that IBM is combing Expense accounts for potentially false numbers and asking for explanations from employees if they "detect" any anomalies. Perhaps claiming the meal limit every day of a trip etc. etc. Anybody been asked for supporting details? -Anon-you-bet-
  • Comment 10/03/07: How sad about the patent application on offshoring. I have several US patents with IBM and the company rewarded me by laying me off. I had 2 kids in college and begged my manager on my knees to let me stay. He laughed in my face. The IBM company ruined my career and nearly ruined my marriage and family as well. Sam Palmisano is a greedy SOB and will rot in Hell. -Anonymous-
  • Comment 10/04/07: IBM has been saving mucho bucks on rent since allowing the Work-At-Home program. I don't see anywhere in the IRS form instructions where an employee from a large corporation can deduct home office expenses. It appears to be written for the self-employed. We should be getting a tax break. How do others feel about this? -Homeboy-
  • Comment 10/04/07: Homeboy -- yes, we should get a home office tax deduction, and I think we actually can. I think if you are doing it for the convenience of the employer, and if the employer does not provide you with an office somewhere, then it's deductible. Read that section of the tax instructions carefully, and I think you will find it's possible. If the nature of your work is such that you are never at home, i.e. you are always at a client location, then you probably don't have a deduction. Along these same lines -- What if IBM only allows x dollars a month for the cell phone, but it actually costs you x + y? And you can prove it's all business . . . You can probably make a case for deduction there, of the + y part. -Wild Duck-
  • Comment 10/04/07: To: Homeboy, I've always thought that working at home was a screw job for the employee. I'd rather use their electricity, drink their coffee, wear out their carpet and be comfortable in their air-conditioning. There is no advantage to working at home. It's all in ibm's favor. -OfficeBoy-
  • Comment 10/05/07: RE: tax deductibility of home office. It can be done validly, but you do need to be very careful about following IRS rules and record keeping. You need to carefully track the use for business vs the personal use of that same space. A room that's truly a dedicated home office is easier to deduct than one that has dual purpose. I know years ago this was also one of the deductions that significantly raised your odds of an audit, not sure if it's still the same. So do your homework and then decide. -Anonymous-
  • Comment 10/05/07: Another thought on working at home -- Last time I heard a value for it, my 8x12 office at an IBM facility cost my department $2000 per year. Perhaps IBM could be persuaded to pay the employee that two grand in exchange for the office-at-home. The employee, meanwhile would have a solid basis for comparison. Is (cost of electricity + lightbulbs + heating + use of a room + other costs of operating an office at home) - $2000 less than (cost of commuting + office clothing + other outlays for going to the office)? If the left side of the inequality is smaller, then the home office is (would be) a good deal. If the right side is smaller then you are subsidizing office space for IBM. Now remove the 2000 and consider it again. -Wild Duck-
• Pension Comments page
• Raise and Salary Comments
  • Comment 10/05/07: Salary = 92k; Band Level = 8; Job Title = Adv Software Engg; Years Service = 4; Hours/Week = 40; Div Name = SWG; Location = RTP; Message = What are you all complaining about!!! Where else can someone make 92k with 4 years of experience after college!! Just IBM! Quit whining. Maybe all you old geysers need to ramp up on your skills and stay current with the latest technology and maybe you all will still be employed! -Uber Geek-
• PBC Comments
  • Comment 10/04/07: We heard today that PBC ratings are going to be compared between other people with similar band ratings and different job descriptions. Also, up to 5 different managers that don't know your job may have input in your final PBC rating. And your variable contribution payment if you get one will solely be based on IBM's year-end profit margin .. As usual, main concern is the shareholder not the employee .. Good Luck ! -PBC Joke -
• International Comments
  • Comment 10/03/07: Country = ireland; Union Affiliate = ireland; Job Title = ireland; IBM Division = server; Message = well we see that the big blue has signed a deal with at&t in relation to outsourcing...from ireland we just don't care anymore about this company as they show a blatant disregard for all its employees ...good luck to ibm in india -ted d'egatta-

Vault Message Board Posts:

Vault's IBM Business Consulting Services message board is a popular hangout for IBM BCS employees, including many employees acquired from PwC.

• "Was wondering about same thing" by "6SigmaGrad". Full excerpt: I'm interviewing with IBM GBS next week. I started reading this board this week. GreenconneXion, I think you have to take a lot of the comments (especially negative ones) with a grain of salt. The most critical comments seemed to be from those no longer with IBM, presumably because the job was not the right fit for them in the first place.

  Same as what they teach in marketing, people voice about adverse experiences far more than do than pleasant ones and with much more vehemence. I doubt any of the happy IBMers would be on this board. I think your experience at any employer is what you make it.

  I joined The Vault recently hoping to garner some useful information regarding the consultancies I would be interviewing with. Sadly, I am disappointed with the level of flaming of previous employer and unprofessionalism displayed at times on the boards.

• "A Christmas Carol" by "Dose of reality". Full excerpt: Just consider me to be the Ghost of IBM past, present and future all rolled into one. As one of those infamous "negative posters", who has been participating here since the PwC acquisition, let me give you a bit of historical perspective.

  I can turn the clock back 2+ years and tell you about the dozens of posters that debuted here with a post much like yours. Roll the clock forward a year or so from then, and you will see the same guy kicking himself for not listening to the advice he read on the board, and echoing the same evaluations that he scoffed at a year earlier. If you want to really get value for your $3.99 take a look back and you will see for yourself.

  Use your powers of analysis and deduction. If this were simply a matter of disgruntled employees who couldn't hack it, why would we continue to post here after four years?

  So you joined the Vault to get information, you didn't like what you heard, so you decided that the information isn't valid. That sure sounds like post cognitive dissonance to me, or perhaps nothing more than simple wishful thinking. If you can manage to actually live in fantasy land, then perhaps you can be happy here. However, i you are smart, and you have both feet on the ground you won't allow yourself to become another Vault turnaround statistic.

• "Active Employee Band 9 - GBS - Comment" by "ibminvestor". Full excerpt: I am active, and I am in GBS. The reason why many active employees don't post here is because of ignorance and because of fear and the fact the slaves have no time to for self-enhancement. The collective does not allow for that. You'll understand a year or two from now. Whether you accept that fate or not will remain to be seen.

  Oh I love those days when I thought I was in control of my career! My youthful arrogance played right into their hands. Ignoring the data you see rationalizing it with your feelings of superiority and academia logic is suicidal to anyone's career.

  You are correct that your experience at any employer is what you make of it. However, that's only half, if not less, of the total deal.

  Remember these words.

  Your future will be largely determined by what this employer's customers and the employer's reputation will make of you by association. Think of that every moment you're in GBS.

  Be sure of yourself, be a puppy dog lapping it up and feeding the egos of the leadership. Accept the ignominious anonymity that's required for the brand to persevere and executives egos to remain in place.

  You'll do well. You are the kind of person they seek. Godspeed as a member of the collective.

• "Comment" by "6SigmaGrad". Full excerpt: Well Said, ibminvestor. But I think your comments extend beyond just IBM and probably to all consultancies and also law firms. Yes, I made a blanket generalization, so please don't respond and attempt to debunk or prove by contradiction of otherwise by pointing out a specific example.

  Personally, I'm an undergraduate student (graduating soon) with 1-year experience (in various internships) in the field of Six Sigma. I can already get a corporate job (Caterpillar, John Deere, Lenovo), but I'm looking at IBM GBS because of the concern that if I take a corporate job, I might be pigeonholed in one area, one system or one discipline.

  Consulting as a career, from my viewpoint provides experiences with depth and breadth that exposes me to the latest best practices and technologies and overall makes my skill-set more marketable. I don't think I will get that kind of exposure in some Supply Analyst or Commodity Manager position at company xyz.

  Also from an earning potential standpoint of comparing corporate job career paths vs consulting, there is much higher potential on the consulting side because of the current job market demands for solutions and delivery consultants in implementing systems like Siebel, SAP.

  Sure I'm expecting to put up with probably more difficult work-life and working in an environment of dog-eat-dog politics, but I think to me many other soon-to-be graduates like myself, it's a trade-off we're willing to to make.

• "6sigmaGrad" by "wuteva". Full excerpt: I applaud the fact that you're making your decisions based on what appears to be sound,thorough research. I also hope you realize that, while you've done some homework, you are still wet behind the ears and lack the real world experience of working with any of the top consulting firms. IBM surely isn't one of them, but she does have some things in common.

  In consulting, we have this concept of utilization. Most teams in GBS want you working on billable client tasks >90-95% of the time. Any time you take vacation, training, sick leave etc, it is unbillable and impacts your utilization. Utilization is directly tied to your annual bonus/raise (regardless of what anyone tries to tell you, it's true). That's why most teams force their employees to work 45+ hour weeks: to make up for personal time off.

  You may know some of this already, but did you know that most managers/resource managers (those that staff you on projects) do not care what type of work you do, as long as you're billable? You may be six sigma certified (I am too), and that may hold a lot of value in the open market, but at IBM, you can have the term 'java' on your resume and they will pressure you to take a position that requires hard core coding. Anything to get and keep you billable.

  So when you first join IBM, you will be excited and eager to be a team player and start work wherever they need you all the while thinking that in six months or a year, you'll start to make moves to establish yourself in your niche market and yadda yadda..but guess what? The moment you start working in one area, whether it be for a specific client type (federal, DoD etc) or a specific skill type that you don't particularly care for, you will have that stink on you for a long time. So each time your current project finishes up and you want to 'diversify' and get some new experience, it will be nearly impossible because they will turn around and staff you on the same type of project you just rolled off.

  That's what it's all about. It's about keeping employees billable for the long term and long term contracts do not want to take a chance on someone because they want new exposure. At IBM, I can assure you the chances are strongly in favor being pigeon-holed and stuck in one field or area. You would be better off working for a boutique firm for a few years then making the switch to another one that allows growth into a different discipline, then another and so forth.

  IBM is the worst that I have experienced when it comes to professional growth and experience. I fell for it all and signed up. I was looking for a break from the fast paced consulting lifestyle and wanted to try something new. I ignored the posters on this board because I knew that with IBM's HUGE client base, there MUST be all kinds of opportunity out there. I was terribly wrong.

  Keep in mind, teams do not like to lease you out to other teams for very long. So if your team is primarily in the Federal client spaces and you want to work commercial, or vice versa, you are screwed. IBM consulting is truly the worst I have ever experienced and I've worked next to consultants from many many places. It's not so much the people at IBM, most are bright and very talented, it's the culture that screws the employees.

• "1 more question" by "6SigmaGrad". Full excerpt: In the interview, if they ask about plans in the next few years: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Would stating that I intend on getting an MBA hurt me or help me as a candidate?
• "It depends..." by "Dose of reality". Full excerpt: ...on whether you intend on asking IBM to pay for it.
• "Besides what's been said so far" by "Frank Cary". Full excerpt: Let me add another note for your consideration. It has been reported on this Board many times that the IBM Company practices "just in time" hiring. That is, the HR types you will be interacting with are doing shadow staffing for potential contracts not yet signed.

  After the first face to face sniff test by HR, you may be invited to talk to a "real Manager" who will make a cursory determination if you are employable and tell you sweet nothings to make you slobber. He'll tell you it's just a matter of a week or two to process the paper work to hire you, but you'll see that nothing will be put on paper like a real offer.

  Then you will sit by the proverbial phone waiting for that call which will probably never come because the contract they had you penciled in for never came to pass. Your calls to the Pig will got unreturned for months, etc.

  I'm not lying, but check out my warning by ponying up the tariff to look at past postings and you'll see for yourself.

• "Consulting? At IBM?" by "overanddone". Full excerpt: As an undergrad who went into IBM thinking along the same lines as you(i.e. wanted consulting experience on my CV), I wonder why you would think that working in IBM will get give a you a brilliant career in consulting. Surely, a balanced research into what companies would nurture and develop consulting skills would have revealed that IBM wouldn't be one of them!

  After 2 years of pushing paperwork mixed with coding in the deep, dark trenches in the 2 projects I was stuck on, I left. Now working in industry as a contractor coder, I've actually been presented with an opportunities to do business analysis work, which in my humble opinion, is a stepping stone for young graduates into developing actual consulting skills. Hearing back from friends still stuck at Big Blue, they bemoan being stuck on the same project doing low-level tech work with chances of their line manager supporting them in being assigned a business analyst role to be something like "when hell freezes over"(something that's even more unlikely due to the global warming phenomenon).

  It's funny that I had more chances of developing business consulting skills as a contract coder rather than within the "consulting" division of IBM Global services. IBM was my first 'real' job outside of college, so I never really got to realize how badly IBM employees were treated compared to most other companies. As an eager young grad, I was willing to work insane hours and put up with negligent management, thinking it would get me somewhere. My fellow grads who went to other consulting firms and directly into industry in the meantime passed me by in terms of salary and skill development by leaps and bounds.

  It's no skin off my supposedly "bitter ex-employee nose" to see you go into Big Blue 6SigmaGrad. People on these boards only offer truth. If I had been smart enough to read through these boards prior to graduation, I wouldn't have flushed 2 years down the toilet. I would've sent my job applications to boutique consulting firms, or looked for an financial company with a good graduate program.

  To all other grads trawling these boards, why don't you use those clever consultative minds to track down BCS employees not sent by HR to talk to in real life. See what they have to say. Talking to someone from HR, you can't really expect them to say bad things about the company now, would you?

• "My Perspective on IBM" by "StuckOnTheTarmac". Full excerpt: You want to know what its like here GBS? Here's the stereotypical crowd:
  • Burned out 35-50 year old guy who worked in the industry for 10-20 years making lateral movements across his company. IBM/ACN/ put his company through an oracle/SAP/ and now IBM hired him as a "consultant" to come in as a band 7/band 8 because they needed to staff a project that was oversold and understaffed.
  • Ex PwC guy at the band 10/Band D level who still sells large scale ERP implementation projects successfully and then struggles to deliver the project because the gene pool is so diluted below band 10.
  • New college hire who wanted to get into "real" consulting, like corporate business strategy. Got rejected from M/B/B/ and is now a consultant for GBS. He is now starting to realize that 95% of all "consulting" from an IBM/ACN/ work is implementing ERP packages. He/she is probably a PMA (or being shuffled around without any luck in being staffed) on a project taking care of project financials and not building on any true skill set.
  • An offshore Indian resource who recently got his lifelong dream fulfilled. He is now onshore with the Global Delivery Model and coding up a storm. He is so happy to be working for IBM, making boat loads of money, and remaining at the bottom of the food chain for the rest of his career.
• "PTO (paid time off) Roll Over" by "Frank_Reality". Full excerpt: RE your question about time off getting rolled over year to year. First, IBM doesn't have a PTO per se. Second, untaken vacation and holidays are forfeited - no rollover, no accumulation. For salaried personnel one could argue that you really don't have paid vacation or holidays since the utilization targets are so high, to make them you either have to work significant and regular overtime to make up for the vacation/holidays you took off, or you don't take vacation/holidays.
• "The BS is started" by "Toa". Full excerpt: When will management realize that no one actually believes this BS about IBM having a good work life balance! Sorry, you work for IBM, you don't have a life.

  The project I am current on has just requested that you stay at work as long as it takes to complete the assigned days work, the problem is the amount of work is much more than 7-8 hours worth. They have also requested that when asked people will be willing to work weekends.

  I have worked for various companies in the US, UK, NZ and Australia and all of them had a much better work life balance than IBM.

  At the moment my hero is Wally from the Dilbert strip, why bust a gut, you work hard get a 2+ or 2 and get a joke of a wage rise or take it very easy and still get a joke of a rise. My career is now stuffed thanks to IBM so I'll just hang in here until they package me out with a large redundancy.