Welcome to IBM Employee News and Links

Quick Links:

Get involved! Insider trading After IBM Lenovo Employee Discount

Previous highlights:

March 13, 2010 March 6, 2010 February 27, 2010 February 20, 2010 February 13, 2010 February 6, 2010 January 30, 2010 January 23, 2010 January 16, 2010 January 9, 2010 January 2, 2010 December 26, 2009 December 19, 2009 December 12, 2009 December 5, 2009 November 28, 2009 November 21, 2009 November 14, 2009 November 7, 2009 October 31, 2009 October 24, 2009 October 17, 2009 October 10, 2009 October 3, 2009 September 26, 2009 September 19, 2009 September 12, 2009 September 5, 2009 August 29, 2009 August 22, 2009 August 15, 2009 August 8, 2009 August 1, 2009 July 25, 2009 July 18, 2009 July 11, 2009 July 4, 2009 June 27, 2009 June 20, 2009 June 13, 2009 June 6, 2009 May 30, 2009 May 23, 2009 May 16, 2009 May 9, 2009 May 2, 2009 April 25, 2009 April 18, 2009 April 11, 2009 April 4, 2009 March 28, 2009 March 21, 2009 March 14, 2009 March 7, 2009 February 28, 2009 February 21, 2009 February 14, 2009 February 7, 2009 January 31, 2009 January 24, 2009 January 17, 2009 January 10, 2009 January 03, 2009 December 27, 2008 December 20, 2008 December 13, 2008 December 6, 2008 November 29, 2008 November 22, 2008 November 15, 2008 November 8, 2008 November 1, 2008 October 25, 2008 October 18, 2008 October 11, 2008 October 4, 2008 September 27, 2008 September 20, 2008 September 13, 2008 September 6, 2008 August 30, 2008 August 23, 2008 August 16, 2008 August 9, 2008 August 2, 2008 July 26, 2008 July 19, 2008 July 12, 2008 July 5, 2008 June 28, 2008 June 21, 2008 June 14, 2008 June 7, 2008 May 31, 2008 May 24, 2008 May 17, 2008 May 10, 2008 2008 Stock Meeting April 26, 2008 April 19, 2008 April 12, 2008 April 5, 2008 March 29, 2008 March 22, 2008 March 15, 2008 March 8, 2008 March 1, 2008 February 16, 2008 February 9, 2008 February 2, 2008 January 26, 2008 January 19, 2008 January 12, 2008 January 5, 2008 December 29, 2007 December 22, 2007 December 15, 2007 December 8, 2007 December 1, 2007 November 24, 2007 November 17, 2007 November 10, 2007 November 3, 2007 October 27, 2007 October 20, 2007 October 13, 2007 October 6, 2007 September 29, 2007 September 22, 2007 September 15, 2007 September 8, 2007 September 1, 2007 August 25, 2007 August 18, 2007 August 11, 2007 August 4, 2007 July 28, 2007 July 21, 2007 July 14, 2007 July 7, 2007 June 30, 2007 June 23, 2007 June 16, 2007 June 9, 2007 June 2, 2007 May 26, 2007 May 19, 2007 May 12, 2007 May 5, 2007 2007 Stock Meeting April 21, 2007 April 14, 2007 April 7, 2007 March 31, 2007 March 24, 2007 March 17, 2007 March 10, 2007 March 3, 2007 February 24, 2007 February 17, 2007 February 10, 2007 February 3, 2007 January 27, 2007 January 20, 2007 January 13, 2007 January 6, 2007 December 30, 2006 December 23, 2006 December 16, 2006 December 9, 2006 December 2, 2006 November 25, 2006 November 18, 2006 November 11, 2006 November 4, 2006 October 28, 2006 October 21, 2006 October 14, 2006 October 7, 2006 September 30, 2006 September 23, 2006 September 16, 2006 September 9, 2006 September 2, 2006 August 26, 2006 August 19, 2006 August 12, 2006 August 5, 2006 July 29, 2006 July 22, 2006 July 15, 2006 July 8, 2006 July 1, 2006 June 24, 2006 June 17, 2006 June 10, 2006 June 3, 2006 May 27, 2006 May 20, 2006 May 13, 2006 May 6, 2006 2006 Stock Meeting April 22, 2006 April 15, 2006 April 8, 2006 April 1, 2006 March 25, 2006 March 18, 2006 March 11, 2006 March 4, 2006 February 25, 2006 February 18, 2006 February 11, 2006 February 4, 2006 January 28, 2006 January 21, 2006 January 14, 2006 January 7, 2006 December 31, 2005 December 24, 2005 December 17, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 03, 2005 November 26, 2005 November 19, 2005 November 12, 2005 November 5, 2005 October 29, 2005 October 22, 2005 October 15, 2005 October 8, 2005 October 1, 2005 September 24, 2005 September 17, 2005 September 10, 2005 September 3, 2005 August 27, 2005 August 20, 2005 August 13, 2005 August 6, 2005 July 30, 2005 July 23, 2005 July 16, 2005 July 9, 2005 July 2, 2005 June 25, 2005 June 18, 2005 June 11, 2005 June 4, 2005 May 28, 2005 May 21, 2005 May 14, 2005 May 7, 2005 April 30, 2005 April 23, 2005 April 16, 2005 April 9, 2005 April 2, 2005 March 26, 2005 March 19, 2005 March 12, 2005 March 5, 2005 February 26, 2005 February 19, 2005 February 12, 2005 February 5, 2005 January 29, 2005 January 22, 2005 January 15, 2005 January 8, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 25, 2004 December 18, 2004 December 11, 2004 December 4, 2004 November 27, 2004 November 20, 2004 November 13, 2004 November 6, 2004 October 30, 2004 October 23, 2004 October 16, 2004 October 9, 2004 October 2, 2004 September 25, 2004 September 18, 2004 September 11, 2004 September 4, 2004 August 28, 2004 August 21, 2004 August 14, 2004 August 7, 2004 July 31, 2004 July 24, 2004 July 17, 2004 July 10, 2004 July 3, 2004 June 26, 2004 June 19, 2004 June 5, 2004 May 29, 2004 May 22, 2004 May 15, 2004 May 8, 2004 2004 Stock Meeting April 24, 2004 April 10, 2004 April 3, 2004 March 27, 2004 March 20, 2004 March 13, 2004 March 6, 2004 February 28, 2004 February 21, 2004 February 14, 2004 February 7, 2004 February 1, 2004 January 18, 2004 December 27, 2003 December 20, 2003 December 13, 2003 December 6, 2003 November 29, 2003 November 22, 2003 November 15, 2003 November 8, 2003 November 1, 2003 October 25, 2003 October 18, 2003 October 11, 2003 October 4, 2003 September 27, 2003 September 20, 2003 September 13, 2003 September 6, 2003 August 30, 2003 August 23, 2003 August 16, 2003 August 9, 2003 Pension Lawsuit Win July 26, 2003 July 19, 2003 July 12, 2003 July 5, 2003 June 28, 2003 June 21, 2003 June 14, 2003 June 7, 2003 May 31, 2003 May 24, 2003 May 17, 2003 May 10, 2003 2003 Stock Meeting April 26, 2003 April 19, 2003 April 12, 2003 April 5, 2003 March 29, 2003 March 22, 2003 March 15, 2003 March 8, 2003 March 1, 2003 February 22, 2003 February 15, 2003 February 8, 2003 February 1, 2003 January 25, 2003 January 18, 2003 January 11, 2003 January 4, 2003 December 28, 2002 December 21, 2002 December 14, 2002 December 7, 2002 November 30, 2002 November 23, 2002 November 16, 2002 November 9, 2002 November 2, 2002 October 26, 2002 October 19, 2002 October 12, 2002 October 5, 2002 September 28, 2002 September 21, 2002 September 14, 2002 September 7, 2002 August 31, 2002 August 24, 2002 August 17, 2002 August 10, 2002 August 3, 2002 July 27, 2002 July 20, 2002 July 13, 2002 July 6, 2002 June 29, 2002 June 22, 2002 June 15, 2002 June 8, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 25, 2002 May 18, 2002 May 11, 2002 2002 Stock Meeting April 27, 2002 April 20, 2002 April 13, 2002 April 6, 2002 March 30, 2002 March 23, 2002 March 16, 2002 March 9, 2002 March 2, 2002 February 23, 2002 February 16, 2002 February 9, 2002 February 2, 2002 January 26, 2002 January 19, 2002 January 12, 2002 January 5, 2002 December 29, 2001 December 22, 2001 December 15, 2001 December 8, 2001 December 1, 2001 November 24, 2001 November 17, 2001 November 10, 2001 November 3, 2001 October 27, 2001 October 20, 2001 October 13, 2001 October 6, 2001 September 29, 2001 September 22, 2001 September 15, 2001 September 8, 2001 September 1, 2001 August 25, 2001 August 18, 2001 August 11, 2001 August 4, 2001 July 28, 2001 July 21, 2001 July 14, 2001 July 7, 2001 June 30, 2001 June 23, 2001 June 16, 2001 June 9, 2001 June 2, 2001 May 26, 2001 May 19, 2001 May 12, 2001 May 5, 2001 2001 Stock Meeting April 21, 2001 April 14, 2001 April 7, 2001 March 31, 2001 March 24, 2001 March 17, 2001 March 10, 2001 March 3, 2001 February 24, 2001 February 17, 2001 February 10, 2001 February 3, 2001 January 27, 2001 January 20, 2001 January 13, 2001 January 6, 2001 December 30, 2000 December 23, 2000 December 16, 2000 December 9, 2000 December 2, 2000 November 24, 2000 November 17, 2000 November 10, 2000 November 4, 2000 October 28, 2000 October 21, 2000 October 14, 2000 October 7, 2000 September 30, 2000 September 23, 2000 September 16, 2000 September 9, 2000 September 2, 2000 August 26, 2000 August 19, 2000 August 12, 2000 July 29, 2000 July 22, 2000 July 15, 2000 July 1, 2000 June 24, 2000 June 17, 2000 June 10, 2000 June 3, 2000 May 27, 2000 May 20, 2000 May 13, 2000 May 6, 2000 April, 2000

Highlights—May 31, 2008

• CNN/Money: IBM Opens New Global Delivery Center in Pune, India. Excerpts: IBM today inaugurated a new Global Delivery Center (GDC) in Pune to provide clients worldwide with business consulting and application services. This is IBM Global Business Services' (GBS) fourth site in Pune, and it will expand the scope of business and technology expertise already available to clients through its globally integrated network of delivery centers.

  The Pune site joins IBM's network of 20 business consulting and application services centers located in eight countries around the world. These centers, which utilize world-class tools and automation technologies from IBM Research, are established as 'centers of excellence' with professionals who are uniquely skilled and equipped to serve client needs by industry. This globally integrated approach provides the fundamental underpinning for IBM Global Business Services, enabling the company to define the professional services industry with its clients. ...

  "As a globally integrated company, IBM leads in high-value creation and services delivery driven by our strategy of doing the right tasks, with the right skills, in the right places. Our new facility in Pune will further augment our globally integrated delivery network, providing clients with differentiated solutions to help them innovate and transform their businesses," said Rajesh Nambiar, Vice President and General Manager, Global Delivery, IBM India, "Pune has a rich pool of engineering talent and provides a very conducive environment for technology development. This makes a compelling case for locating our new center in Pune," he added further. ...

  IBM also announced a new Language Translation Services Center (LTSC) in the Pune facility as part of its strategy to address increasing demand from clients in Europe for non-English language skills. The Pune center's LTSC will offer a full scope of quality language translation services for clients and professionals at other IBM global delivery centers. This includes assisting with document translations -- such as emails, web pages, contracts, etc. -- from French, German, Italian and Spanish to English, allowing for more improved and efficient communication between clients and employees around the world. More LTSC sites will open at other global delivery center sites in Asia and Europe later this year.

• CNN/Money: IBM Opens 7th Client Center in Russia. Part of the Company's Global Focus on Growth Markets. Excerpt: IBM today announced the opening of a client center in the city of Perm in the Russian Federation as part of the company's regional expansion. The center, which is IBM's 7th in Russia, is aimed at supporting its customers and business partners in the Perm region of Russia. IBM is actively investing in hiring and training new staff, establishing new centers of competence and supporting the education of local business partners across the country. Last year, IBM opened client centers in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Novosibirsk. IBM's Russian operation is headquartered in Moscow where IBM has been present for 35 years.
• Los Angeles Times: Fair is fair -- but pensions for executives often aren't. By David Lazarus. Excerpts: Does your job guarantee you a pension for your retirement? Mine doesn't, and if you're like most private-sector workers, your pension plan is either crumbling around you or has been replaced with a 401(k) program, which may or may not receive a helping hand from your employer.

  Yet many if not most chief executives continue to enjoy lavish pension plans -- on top of their multimillion-dollar pay packages and sundry other perks. How can that be fair?

  The short answer, of course, is that it isn't. But fairness was never the point. This is about giving CEOs what they want, regardless of what's given to other company employees.

  "It's what the market is for these jobs," said Charles Tharp, executive vice president of policy for the Center on Executive Compensation, a think tank that was introduced this month to provide "a cohesive and reasoned corporate point of view" on executive pay.

  The center's funding comes from the HR Policy Assn., an organization of human resource executives at more than 250 companies, as well as individual corporations such as McDonald's Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., IBM Corp. and General Mills Inc. ...

  By that reasoning, United Airlines was justified in giving Glenn Tilton a $4.5-million pension trust when he took over the ailing carrier in 2002. The money, United said at the time, was intended to compensate Tilton for the pension he was abandoning when he departed his former employer, then ChevronTexaco Corp.

  Losing his pension was clearly an important point for Tilton. Otherwise, the $4.5-million trust wouldn't have been included in his contract, which also featured a starting salary of $950,000, a $3-million signing bonus and 100,000 shares in United's parent company, UAL Corp.

  Just three months after he was hired, Tilton led United into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In 2005, he terminated United's four employee pension plans, covering about 120,000 active and retired workers. It was the largest pension default in U.S. history, dumping about $5 billion in obligations on the government-run Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

  In 2006, when United emerged from bankruptcy, Tilton's total compensation was valued at almost $24 million. ...

  When it comes to pensions, the rule should be simple: The CEO gets what workers get. If workers are forced to forgo a pension because it's too expensive for the company, then the CEO also goes without. It's called leading by example. More CEOs ought to give it a try.

• CNN/Money: IBM senior VP exercises options, sells shares. IBM Senior Vice President John E. Kelly III exercises options for 40,200 shares. Excerpt: A senior vice president of International Business Machines Corp. exercised options for 40,200 shares of common stock, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings Tuesday. In Form 4s filed with the SEC, John E. Kelly III reported he exercised the options Friday for $88.96 apiece, and then sold 39,076 shares the same day for $124.06 to $124.43 apiece. (Editor's note: Mr. Kelly's same day gain from exercising his stock options was approximately $1,378,091.)
• ZD-Net: Software industrialization: not so fast, Henry Ford. By Joe McKendrick. Excerpts: There’s been a lot of talk about IT and software “industrialization” lately — the idea that software development can be broken down into standardized, low-level, highly automated tasks that can mass produce applications on demand, at low cost. At IBM’s Pulse event last week, IBM Tivoli’s Al Zollar said that IT industrialization is the next great phase in information technology. (I’ve been trying to get either a transcript or recording of Zollar’s speech to get more details, but IBM hasn’t been able to produce one up yet — so all I have for now is a press release.)

  Nevertheless, there’s been thinking out there for some time that software development is evolving from a craft — painstakingly undertaken one project at a time — to a more of a mass production mode. How far along is that vision, and is it even an appropriate vision?

  Eric Newcomer has had some interesting things to say lately on the subject of IT and software industrialization. A few months back, he discussed whether the automobile analogy — a la Henry Ford’s assembly line — fit the mold for software creation today. He concludes that while companies continue to look for ways to squeeze costs and increase productivity, you simply can’t take a process as sophisticated as software development and break it down into low-level tasks that can be assumed by commodity priced outsourcing shops.

• WashTech: The Other Cost Of Outsourcing - Part 1. H1B Visa Holders: Beneficiaries or Victims? By Priyanka Joshi. Excerpts: We see them changing the corporate and social scenes of cities and towns across America today. Guest workers, in the country on visas, are seen as the faces of globalization, frequently and not entirely incorrectly, snatching jobs from Americans right in their backyards. We see them, infuriated, discuss mission-critical issues in native tongues while home grown American workers continue to become minorities in such teams; See them living a lifestyle, that on the surface, looks better, if not at par, with yours.

  But did you know that guest workers continue to be exploited mercilessly by their recruiting companies as we speak? The H-1B visa holders aren't different from any other professionals in any other country, with their intent to provide for themselves and their families. They come to America with promises of well paying employment, intellectual stimulation and the stamp of a "Microsoft" or a "Google" on their resumes, hoping to catapult their careers to the next level. While the locals see them changing the neighborhood social-scape, the homegrown techies mostly regard them with suspicion, if not with thinly concealed contempt. The H-1B visa candidate, in contrast, has little idea of the hostility brewing in the guest country, with oily recruiters gushing about the hundreds of thousands of dollars waiting to be made, promises of world travel, and an "American-Indian/Arab/Chinese/Russian" dream of opulent lifestyles with generous retirement in the country of their choice. ...

  Patni Lawsuit: Take the case of Vishal Goel and Peeyush Goyal- IT workers who had to jump through many hoops to get to work in America. Their subsequent spectacular exploitation by Indian software giant Patni computers, who contracted them to State Farm's Auto division in Bloomington, Ill has resulted in a law suit. In the suit, they say State Farm paid Patni "in excess of" $100,000 per worker, and yet H-1B visa holders like them were paid only $23,310 for the base salary, about half the $44,000 that Patni had said it would pay on the visa application. Last year, Patni paid $2.4 million to 607 H-1B visa workers after a Labor Dept. investigation uncovered systematic underpayment of wages. "I highly suspect that these employment practices are widespread among the tech-outsourcing firms," says Ron Hira, assistant professor of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology, who will testify as an expert witness in the Goel case. ...

  Best and the Brightest? Look Again: Many foreign IT employees do not have enough experience to be brought into the country on "highly skilled professional visas". Arulraj seconds what this author has seen happen rampantly in the Greater Seattle area. A Seattle area housewife, originally from India, now in her San-Antonio-QA-analyst avatar, who refuses to be identified says, "Recruiters find open positions, they give us resumes of other people that we 'model' our resumes on, then techie husbands train wives for the interview, familiarizing them with broad technical terms, we get cheat sheets for technical questions, and as the last step, friends of friends provide references checks. That's how we get placed!" she says, sharing that she has been working as a QA tester for a year, despite having zero experience in the field when she started. "I made a lot of phone calls to my Oracle programmer husband in the first few weeks," she smiles, "and then other H-1B visa holders on the team started helping me also." Arulraj alleges, "I had a year of experience as a programmer when I started with Computech and four months later when I quit, Computech was marketing me (without my consent) with four years of experience!" U.S. firms do not bother to investigate further, strapped as they are, apparently, for time. ...

  Living Conditions: Upon arrival in the country, most candidates find themselves crammed into 1 bedroom apartments with five or six other techies like themselves. Living on the bus line, getting a salary that cannot sustain a reasonable lifestyle unless used collectively. Their suavely promised Green cards may or may not arrive at all.

  Salary and Insurance: Arulraj alleges that his employment agreement with Computech stated that he would be paid $50,000/year, but he was paid a total of $1,000 for his entire tenure of four months. H1B visa holders- fearful of their Green Card process being put in jeopardy- rarely ever question their firms. ...

  Guerilla Training: H-1B consultants are trained to fill the vacancy at hand in project specific intensive crash courses or "boot camps" either in India or the U.S. Offices from silicon valley to Boston are rampant with H-1B visa holders either trained in such camps anywhere from ".Net to JAVA" (to name just two amongst many technologies) and shipped to America in 3.5 weeks. Such techies are also found smugly sharing stories of "learning" technologies for three days in Barnes and Noble just before they interview for new jobs. ...

  In his paper "Outsourcing America's Technology and Knowledge Jobs," Ron Hira argues that U. S. visa programs for overseas workers hurt the wages and job security of U.S. tech workers. Expanding the number of visas, Hira contends, "would directly lead to more offshore outsourcing of jobs, displacement of American technology workers, decreased wages and job opportunities, and the discouragement of young people from entering science and engineering fields."

• The City Review: 590 Madison Avenue. Between 56th and 57th Streets (the former IBM Building). Developer: The International Business Machines Corporation. Architect: Edward Larrabee Barnes Erected: 1983. Excerpts: Much underappreciated when it opened, this sharply chiseled, dark green giant may not be a masterpiece of modernity, but it is very impressive and definitely one of the city's finest oases. Take a square column, slice off a large wedge facing southwest, cut away a chunk from the base facing northeast and add a saw-tooth skylight atrium on its southwest side and you have the basic form. The photograph above, taken from the 56th Street entrance of Sony Plaza, shows the roof of the atrium, the former IBM Building on the right, and the rear of Trump Tower on the left.

  Then fill the atrium with huge bamboo trees, finish everything finely with rich materials, add the finest general-purpose museum space in the city in the basement, connect the atrium to the adjacent Trump Tower atrium and you have the 43-story building that formerly was known as the IBM Building before that company sold it to its present owners. ...

  Incredibly, both this building and the A. T. & T. Building were abandoned after a only few years by their corporate developers, a stunning quirk of financial and real estate history and probably corporate mismanagement. Neither building, in fact, were official corporate headquarters as the companies had long since sneaked out of the city, but the two buildings epitomized the tradition of distinctive, proud corporate monuments. ...

  The decision of both companies to sell their famous skyscrapers at almost distress prices in a real estate depression was an early and very disturbing sign of corporate downsizing that no doubt warmed stockholders’ hearts while depressing the hearts of all civilized people. If the board of directors of the companies had been more astute and waited a few years, they could have realized substantially greater sales results as the real estate market boomed in the late 1990's. So much for "shareholders' interests" and "corporate responsibility." So much for neighborhood, to say nothing of urban and civic and responsibility. ...

  Adding insult to injury and kicking the city while it’s down, the new owners of both buildings also shared an amazing contempt for contractual agreements with the city. It was no surprise, of course, that city officials meekly, albeit outrageously, acquiesced. Mr. Minskoff, a dapper contemporary art collector, mowed down a large portion of the bamboo court that IBM had created to make room for meretricious, dismal, uninspired and not at all attractive contemporary art, at least in the first new installations. Furthermore, he approved the installation of a very poor and mediocre red Alexander Calder sculpture beneath the great cantilever at the corner of Madison Avenue and 57th Street.

• Fortune: Mark Hurd, superstar. Why the EDS deal may prove to be a smart move - and how it fits into HP's larger plans. By Jon Fortt. Excerpts: Truth be told, maybe Hurd has earned the benefit of the doubt. After all, he has pulled off a remarkable three-year turnaround that has made HP the biggest tech company on earth - $104 billion in sales last year. Part of doing that was pulling off acquisitions, including HP's $24 billion purchase of Compaq (which was even bigger than EDS). No, he didn't come up with that deal - his predecessor, Carly Fiorina, did but he made it work. ...

  Hurd faced a similar challenge when he arrived at HP. The company had drifted from the course set by its founders, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, a philosophy that came to be called the "HP Way." The pair were renowned for rewarding employees with perks like profit sharing, flextime, and tuition assistance, but they also believed in holding managers accountable for their numbers. Growth and profits came first. By the time Hurd arrived, maybe not so much.

• Workforce Management: The New Job Sharers. In addition to women seeking a greater measure of work/life balance, the most recent entrants to the ranks of job sharing include older workers phasing into retirement, Gen Y employees who don’t want to work so hard, and disabled workers. By Michelle V. Rafter. Excerpt: Sharing a job used to be the fast track to the mommy track. In days gone by, the only people interested in splitting a job were female employees who wanted it all, or at least a little of both—a job and time at home.

  The vast majority of employees who share jobs still fit the traditional description, according to HR managers, experts and other sources. But the picture is changing and more companies are discovering that job sharing is an attractive option for hanging on to other valuable employees, whether they’re older workers phasing into retirement, Gen Y employees who don’t want to work so hard, or disabled workers who can’t meet the demands of a full-time position.