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Highlights—March 28, 2009

CNET: Report: IBM to cut jobs in services unit. By Dawn Kawamoto. Excerpt: With the recession continuing its hold on the economy, IBM is reportedly preparing for another round of layoffs, according to a report Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. The cuts are expected to affect a large swath of U.S. employees in IBM's global business services unit, with a number of the jobs reassigned to workers in India, the Journal reported. Talk of pending layoffs in IBM's services unit is making the rounds on Alliance@IBM, a Communications Workers of America affiliate attempting to organize IBM workers into a union.
Selected comments from readers of this article follow:
- Weren't they just bragging about having a great year on January 20th? "With our strong financial position, solid recurring revenue and profit streams, and global reach, we are confident about 2009 and, based on our 2008 performance, we are ahead of pace on our roadmap for $10 to $11 per share," Samuel Palmisano, IBM chief executive, said in a statement. That sounded like a lot of bravado at the time and then in March Sam Palmisano stated:
  "We're not looking back, we're looking ahead. We're continuing to invest in R&D, in strategic acquisitions, in growth initiatives--and most importantly, during these difficult times, in our people. In other words, we will not simply ride out the storm. Rather, we will take a long-term view, and go on offense."
  
  I called it then that this didn't smell right. So here we are IBM... where's your integrity and why aren't you standing behind your "we're on offense" statements?
- Oh they are standing behind their statements. They are remaining profitable by increasing their margins. You shift the work you can overseas and you instantly gain profitability on your existing outsourcing contracts.
- Perhaps I missed something here. So you think that by simply shifting their workforce overseas, that they are sending a positive message to their customers and workforce? They are telling their US based workforce, we don't believe in you enough to try and cut other expenses out of the equation. We're just letting you go... thanks for your service.
- Layoffs are patriotic. There is nothing more satisfying to hardworking American families trying to put food on the table, than gladly giving up their jobs to hardworking Indian families trying to put food on the table.
Wall Street Journal: IBM to Cut U.S. Jobs, Expand in India. By William L. Bulkely. Excerpts: International Business Machines Corp. plans to lay off about 5,000 U.S. employees, with many of the jobs being transferred to India, according to people familiar with the situation. The technology giant has been steadily building its work force in India and other locations while reducing the number of workers based in the U.S. Foreign workers accounted for 71% of Big Blue's nearly 400,000 employees at the start of the year, up from about 65% in 2006. ...
Some of the jobs are being eliminated because customers have ended contracts or the company has automated tasks. But employees say in many cases, they have been training IBM workers from India to do work that will now be moved overseas.

Selected comments from readers of this article follow:
- IBM = Indian Business Man These bozos have been ran out of JP Morgan, HallMark and Sprint to name a few companies. Their business model is ship American jobs to India and import as many cheap foreign tech workers as they can. IBM is not an American company, but a front for India's cheap labor pool. Hence, the shoddy third world workmanship they produce for their customers. I have worked in technology for over 22 years and I would not let IBM's "best and brightest" in my house to work on my lead pencil much less in to my company's IT shop.
- I am coming to the conclusion that a significant number of layoffs happening in this country now are not necessary for a company's survival but are instead companies taking advantage of the economy to further increase their profits. I just hope people remember which companies did well for their employees -- and the country, in turn -- and which put people out of work and shipped jobs overseas.
- As a consumer of their services (I work for a Fortune 500 that has outsourced their IT to IBM for the next century) I have to say their India staff are: not well trained, not helpful, and often simply impossible to understand (accents, headsets, sometimes even dogs barking in the background as in work-at-home). Their Lotus Notes e-mail is a disaster, frequently crashing and, as in all things IBM hard to use. The network they "maintain" is always clogged (impossible to do video conferences during North America workday). Sorry to vent, but my experience as an end user has been uniformly bad. I do not think more Indianization will help.
- I've been in engineering for 35 years. Through the mid-80s, it was good paying professional career. Not anymore. I can't possibly recommend to any bright young people here in the US that they should go into engineering. Between exporting the jobs with offshoring and importing the workers as H-1Bs for jobs we can't export, we have completely destroyed the profession in this country. It's a national disgrace the way we've allowed rich and greedy multinational corporations to destroy what was once a critical resource behind our economic power.
- "participating in IBM's current resource reduction action.". It almost sounds like something good - hey at least I'm participating. Talk about useless human resources doublespeak that is insulting with its' faux paternalism.. My only hope is that the people responsible for authoring that doozie have the opportunity to participate in this reduction as well. Sounds as bad as "Shortly, you will participating in our organ donation program." Which of course denies that you are dead.
- The real problem is not that American workers are lazy or overpaid. American workers are and always have been some of the best and, especially important in technology, some of the most inventive in the world. We still are. The problem is that we've allowed wealthy corporations to sell off our national competitive advantage for private gains.
  The source of our economic power used to be our strength in engineering and manufacturing. We were better at it than any other country in the world. Nowhere else in the world could anyone come close to us in the quality and technological advancement of the products we sold. And when you have a better product, you can charge more for it. Simple as that.
  
  But big corporations discovered they could make money by exporting the jobs and technology, in effect, selling off our competitive advantage. You can't sell secrets to the Russians, but you can sell our technology to the Indians! And they did it and they did it without having to pay one extra dime in taxes or anything else to compensate the nation for this national competitive advantage which they took as their own and then sold. That's the problem.
- If you think H-1B workers are competing better than American workers, I can promise it's because either (a) you are an H-1B and want to believe this or (b) you don't work in the software industry and have no idea what you're talking about. The H-1B program is all about artificially inflating the pool of available workers, especially in software engineering, where there are almost no variable manufacturing costs and the only the important cost is engineering. There isn't and never has been a shortage of American talent to fill these positions. Pushing down at the margin with a larger supply, even if H-1Bs weren't paid less, pushes all engineering salaries down, increasing profits. That's all it's about. That's all it's ever been about.
- I wonder when this administration will get of their duff and start revoking the millions of Visas issued to 3rd work countries like India? It past time the US stop being the dumping ground for other country's unemployed. And the argument " there is not enough technical labor in the US so we need more Visas" is an absolute, bold face lie. I know many people who have been laid off and on their way out the door, had to say goodbye to their cheap Indian labor, working here on a Visa, co-worker. This is a national embarrassment...
Barron's: IBM Cutting 5,000 Service Jobs; Moving Work To India. By Eric Savitz. Excerpt: IBM is planning to cut a large number of U.S. jobs from its services business, moving their workload to IBM employees in India, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing “people familiar with the situation.”
Selected reader comments from the Barron's article follow:
- I’ve been with IBM for over 30 years and have seen and actually worked on the HR side of many resource actions…IBM speak for layoffs. Most of the responsibilities in my current role are moving to India…new hires who have no IBM business background. IBM has made a commitment to cut at least 10% of its operations in Global Business Services in 2009. My team is one of many that will see their work either eliminated or reduced to a series of tasks and transitioned to an Indian workforce.
  I worked with an India finance team in 2008, all great people. But not up to the enormous workload, with all its complexities, being moved. IBM doesn’t count the unseen cost…they only see the bottom line. The unseen costs are sales/services execs spending more time trying to navigate and interpret reports, lack of data to provide insight into their business, the unending extra long hours those who remain will spend correcting the problems and inaccuracies of the India teams’ outputs.
  
  I’m hopeful there is life after IBM. I understand cost-cutting/re-balancing, but not at a time when our country is experiencing record unemployment. Could not some of these roles be scaled back for US workers, even it if part-time, lower band/salary, etc? There’s a better answer. I’ve enjoyed my IBM career and the great people I’ve worked with, but I’m very disappointed in this approach the way it’s being implemented by local mgmt. I leave very sad and with only memories of what my company used to be to its employees.
- As a former IBM’er of 12 years I was rif’d. The division of software closed and then later reopened and now I believe they have outsourced it to “oversea’s India. I know that “I” stands for international, but I also know that resources (people) should be placed in those countries that trade with the company. I would bet that India doesn’t purchase 2% of IBM’s gross, but house 35% of it’s employee’s. It is a shame that corporate america has no loyalty to it’s employee’s.
- Let’s be clear - IBM is not losing profit. They’re taking advantage of this recession, for their own benefit…This is all just to drive the shares up, so the rich shareholders will make more. ALWAYS profit before people. Free-market capitalism at it’s finest….all for the rich and screw everyone else. When will North America wake up and realize the middle class is being squeezed out?!
- I’ve worked with India employees. The turnover rate for them was 86% on a 6 month project. They don’t work 60 hrs a week either, we had trouble getting them to work 40 hours and when they don’t like what they are doing, they call in sick. I had India resources start and quit in the same week. How do you think the customer felt about that? And no US employee left during the entire project. So don’t give me the ‘they work harder than we do’ bull. You must be from India to make statements like you did.
- I don’t think you really work with indian offshore people from offshore. They can talk really good. They will stay at work for 60 hours - but do almost nothing. They tell you they know everything - and will not be able to do a half of what american software developer can do. They agree to do everything and then seat with american developer asking him to help complete their job. So many times I have to finish or redo their job because customer is waiting for the product. They never did job on time. Quality is inappropriate. Most of our successfully completed projects that needed only maintenance - are not working now. If indian person become a manager - he will never hire american employees. So, you will be unemployed soon.
- This should be no surprise. All you need to do is listen to IBM’s last quarterly conference call. Firing US employees and replacing them with offshore workers is part of the corporate strategy, not a result of the economic downturn. They call it “skills rebalancing”. It should be called “paycheck rebalancing”.
- As an IBM employee since 1985 I am saddened by what has been happening….. IBM has played on the morals and allegiance its employees gained from way back when… we are programmed to always step up - to always do what is needed to get things done… our pride gets in the way even when IBM is screwing us…
  I have been screwed out of my pension… screwed out of decent health benefits… and now, screwed out of my loyalty to a company… all because upper management has no creativity in cost cutting - beyond taking US jobs away and giving them to inexperienced low cost countries…
  
  In some ways, I hope I am ‘resourced’ today - at least it will get me out of the miserable day to day depression of wondering whether I will be employed… Its very sad… I have worked very hard right from the start - in 1985 when I thought I was employed for life if I always went above and beyond… now my prize for doing that is simply a severance package and a ‘don't let the door hit you on the way out’
- I have seen the results of Indian labor first hand. We quoted a price for a small application software effort around 2 million. Customer balked for cheaper rates. Customer’s tab is now 5 times more and counting with lots of Indian programmers trying to figure it out. You get what you pay for. Execs are managing by .xls and looking at hourly rates, not TRUE hourly rates including refactoring of work, extended timelines, etc… Offshoring of call centers, I can see that. Outside of the grunt work, the work needs to be kept home. The customer is suffering from corporate greed, they just don’t know it.
BusinessWeek: IBM to cut 5,000 jobs in U.S. - sources. A plan to send more work abroad as the company angles for pieces of the high-speed rail and health-care handouts is stirring controversy. By Moira Herbst. Excerpts: Reports of deep job cuts at International Business Machines (IBM) come at a potentially delicate time for the company—just as it is hoping to secure money from the federal stimulus package. The company will lay off as many as 5,000 U.S. workers in its Global Business Services unit, transferring some of the work they performed to India, according to media reports. ...
Any job transfers IBM may make to India would occur at a sensitive time, as the recession deepens and as the U.S. unemployment rate climbs. Moreover, the company would be cutting high-skill positions domestically as it and others jockey for new business from the $787 billion stimulus package Congress enacted in February—primarily to help create U.S. jobs.

The news—even without IBM saying anything—provoked criticism from worker groups. "It's all about greed," Conrad said Wednesday. "They're moving work offshore to pay lower wages and lower taxes. IBM shouldn't have their hands on stimulus money if they're offshoring work." Alliance@IBM has been trying to organize IBM employees since 1999. It has 350 dues-paying members at IBM and 5,500 supporters, workers who have registered on the group's Web site but do not pay the $10 monthly dues. ...

Currently, 29% of IBM's workforce is in the U.S., down from 35% in 2006. The fact that IBM has built up large workforces in such low-cost countries as India allows it to shift work abroad more easily, says Ron Hira, assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He says the current economic climate allows IBM to position itself as one of many firms squeezed by the recession and forced into layoffs. IBM "can now blame the layoffs on the economy, masking the reality that it is offshoring high-wage, high-tech jobs to low-cost countries," says Hira. ...

IBM is seeking a share of the $8 billion the U.S. plans to spend on high-speed rail and part of the $20 billion in the stimulus plan to digitize the U.S. health-care system. Palmisano was one of 13 executives who met with President Barack Obama in January in an appearance aimed at pressuring the House of Representatives to pass the economic stimulus bill. He joined the CEOs of Xerox, Motorola, and Google. Kenney says the political climate may make IBM's global restructuring touch raw nerves. Some economists have estimated that taxpayers are paying an average of $225,000 for each job created in the economic stimulus package. Says Kenney: "Taxpayers are saying, 'I don't want to give them money if they're moving jobs offshore.'"
BusinessWeek: IBM Cuts Jobs as It Seeks Stimulus Money Reader Comments (over 300 posted). Selected comments follow:
- IBM will be dead in a generation: Our children and grandchildren will remember and react accordingly on how IBM ruined their parents' careers and livelihoods and cost them their homes and their dignity. For the sake of greed and bigger bonuses, these executives have wiped out entire communities. The next American generation will keep IBM from making any recovery in the US. They will not allow their businesses to buy IBM. We must keep reminding them of IBM's destruction of American business.
- The Truth: It is morally reprehensible that IBM should get any part of the stimulus when it has been a huge supporter of destroying American technologist. People always talk about what's best for investors but what about the Americans who have invested a lifetime into education and their career who are being systematically discriminated against by the Indians and destroyed.
- Barney: The gall of Palmisano is unbelievable. Laying off thousands during two weeks in January and then getting up on a podium with Obama the next day and angling for some stimulus cash.
- Lou Gerstner: >> "In a recession you start to get rid of high-cost people where you can." << That's is such a big pile of BS. If you pin-pointed the executive suite and hacked out the salaries, benefits, bonuses, and other goodies of dozens of THEM, it would dwarf anything you got from sacking hundreds, perhaps THOUSANDS, of the "worker bees". The offshoring of American jobs is just an excuse to ensure that the targets/goals that the executives have "at plan" will be met, in order to get their big time payday bonuses at the end of the quarter and fiscal year.
- IBMloyalty?: They should hook up a generator to TJ's grave, I'll bet you could power all of India with the RPMs.
- Crez: Not only is IBM offshoring jobs, management has the gall to have their US-based employees train its new hires overseas before letting its US staff go. Nice touch. Hey Sam, enjoying your new house built off the back of your employees?
- Alan MacKenzie: IBM is a sleazy company filled with the sleaziest management out there. I had three managers at IBM who had been divorced four and five times. I wouldn't let them walk my dog, they might molest it!
- sajjad hossain: I worked for IBM for 27 years, half of that in senior management position, in Asia, and I saw IBM going downhill as new and newer CEOs took over from the 90's. Now they even sit on paying employee retirement benefits promised years ago. What a fall!!!!
- Wow: 12 billion in the bank, two days ago was going to buy Sun and now they're wanting bailout money by threatening to lay off 5000 and exporting jobs? What's up with that??
- OutForJustice: Let me understand, we taxpayers are paying for a stimulus package that will create jobs for Indian workers who pay no US taxes. So our politicians are using the taxing power of the government to take money from US workers and give it to Indian workers (with a healthy chunk taken out for US executives). Unless we taxpayers start complaining loudly, the only jobs left in this country will be flipping burgers at fast food restaurants and flipping old people in nursing homes.
- TheSocialist: Be it so that in capitalism the business is permitted to do anything legal to maximize profit. But then why pay Samuel Palmisano $25.1 million? We can get excellent MBA graduates in India to replace him at one tenth the cost! Why not outsource his CEO position? Is that not a good capitalistic approach to maximize the profit for IBM?
- Mike: Absolutely unacceptable, not only do they offshore US citizens jobs, they break the visa laws to do it. IBM routinely brings Indian's here on h1b visa's so they can learn the work from us, then sends them back to India , along with the job. I don't blame the Indians for our problem, I blame the management of our companies here, who are so shortsighted they fail to see the long term implications of what they are doing when they hire IBM and allow them to offshore the jobs.
  I have worked in this industry for 20+ years and would challenge anyone who says that they get anywhere near the same productivity and ROI once they offshore the jobs. IBM has it figured out though ,it's all about impressions, not what is actually delivered at a price. If the customers really looked back and compared a current year to a few years back before the offshoring, they would easily see that IBM delivers less actually value to the customer after the offshoring than before it.
- Thomas: Some of those fired will be the same employees that saved IBM's butt in the 1990's, when 'global' services became the company money-maker. Politicians take note; firing so many from so many areas means IBM and competitors have no legitimate claim to need workers on H-1B visas. Like many amoral agencies, IBM may become a victim of believing their own propaganda. They're forgetting their real business paradigm - sell client on combined US/foreign team, telling them what a bargain their getting in paying the offshore workers less, while the reality is the offshore workers contribute very little to the work for the client.
- IBM IsGreed: This "IS" the new IBM. Take away employee benefits, ship jobs overseas, over compensate those at the top. If Obama gives them a thin dime, I know I will simply quit voting and burn my flag (though I will never stop supporting the troops). There is no vision in IBM - only a numbers game that will soon show a lack of real leadership. And BTW, just check out the Board of Directors on AIG website to see what kind of talent they had. Who would have guessed? An IBMer.
- Bobby Jiles: Considering IBM just signed a contract with Kaiser Hospital which has resulted in another 500 plus american job losses with Kaiser. Now IBM is laying off another 5,000 americans plus requesting Tax payers funds from the government is a complete shame. Obama needs to remove IBM from any kind of federal funding. It is not right and the purpose of the stimulus plan was to help create or save american jobs. I feel IBM is the new AIG on the Technology side of american business.
- IBMsucks: This is a wake up call for all the newly minted comp science graduates who have offers from IBM. Do not take it under any circumstance.All you will end up doing is working in a IBM centric area, knowing only IBM products without any other skill set...and when you turn 40...POOOF...your job is sent to India and you will find that you will need to face a world that is quite different and you are left with a bunch of useless skills.
- tom: I retired from ibm 4yrs ago after 37 yrs. its gone from a company who once said it was only as good as its workers to treating them as a disposable numbered asset. they deserve to be hit with an offshore labor tax!
- Cathleen: IBM redefines hubris. I thought it was the height of arrogance when Sam Palmisano was yukking it up with Obama about creating jobs on THE VERY DAY that he was laying off 4,600 US workers. Now they want STIMULUS MONEY as they're laying off 5,000 additional employees?!? I work for IBM and can tell you that EVERY employee that I know is disgusted beyond words with the company.
  Sam Palmisano makes my entire annual salary by lunchtime on Jan. 1. The mind reels. Up until today, though, I wasn't convinced that it's a problem for government to address. The executives' obscene salaries and the disgraceful manner in which it treats its employees, while maddening beyond words, is a moral failure of IBM management and an issue for its stockholders.
  
  It'll only be when IBM starts losing money that stockholders will sit up and take notice. However, now that they want TAXPAYER MONEY, it IS a government issue and I intend to make all the noise I can. I hope that IBM collapses under its own weight and greed. They can go to hell.
- Daly: IMBisgreat you are wrong. I work for a healthcare company that just signed an agreement with IBM we are very much computer grads and have driven the technology of our company to be a national leader in AMR. Just last week we were told that over 800 of us will lose our jobs and perhaps less than half of them have to apply to jobs @ IBM now it sounds like IBM has no intentions of giving these comp science grads a shot. Great? - Yes, at ruining peoples. lives
- joe: Its very true that H1'B are misused by most of Indian companies to send jobs overseas but most of Indian Companies as well as multinationals for the past 4-5 years have used another alternative called L1 Visa. These visa�??s are claimed to be employees of an international company with offices in both a home country and the United States. Companies like IBM,Accenture,TCS, Infosys misuse L1B visa and bring cheap indian labor force to US and send jobs to India. The ratios are like this, they bring 1 or 2 guys in L1B get the project and send 8-10 jobs to India, laying off 4-8 jobs at US. These companies maintain 80% offshore ratio's. TCS has about 14,000 employees in the US and 80-90% of them hold L1 visa. Fact is L1 misuse is more compared to H1. Regulating L1 visa�??s will only reduce jobs sending abroad by these greedy companies.
Digital Daily: By John Paczkowski. IBM. The "I" Stands for "India". Excerpts: When IBM CEO Sam Palmisano advised the Obama transition team that the $30 billion in information-technology stimulus handouts Big Blue is angling for could create more than 900,000 new jobs, he didn’t say they’d be created in India. Yet, apparently that’s the case. IBM (IBM) is reportedly planning to sack “a large number” of employees in its Global Business Services division, shifting their duties overseas to workers in India. The breadth of the reduction isn’t yet known, but chatter on the Alliance@IBM boards suggests it could be brutal. Said one commenter, “I talked to two different Band 10s in IBM Global Business Services yesterday who have both said that tomorrow will be a big day for firing in almost all of the GBS business units. Both of them are expecting that they will be cut because the percentages are going to be higher at the higher levels. Both made reference to this could be called a black Thursday.”
A reader comment follows:
- @Mac Beach - for one thing, I know when it comes to software services, I get a better overall deal when I work with American workers. Ask software engineers about the crap that India produces. It’s cheaper, yes, but it takes 5 times as long to produce and the quality is not good. It’s the kind of thing that looks good for a company for a quarter or so so senior managers can get their bonuses. In the end, you either have to get Indian companies to redo their stuff so much that it’s later and more expensive than if US workers had done it in the first place. If you get a senior manager drunk enough, he/she will admit the same thing. So I’ll invest in small software companies and small IT services companies.
  Mac, a revolution doesn’t mean hippies smoking dope hanging out in some CEO’s office. But I’ve never seen so much anger among the people who do the real work in this country, the ones who show up every day and do their jobs. There’s something fundamentally wrong with our economy when the average CEO is paid about 300 times the average worker (CEOs averaged about 30 times average worker compensation less than 40 years ago). Things are going to change.
WTVD-TV/DT (Raleigh-Durham): IBM announces more layoffs at RTP. Excerpts: IBM employees in RTP are facing another round of layoffs. Hundreds got written notices about a 15 minute meeting to take place Thursday. According to Lee Conrad, the national coordinator with Alliance at IBM, the company told them there will be 4 to 5 thousand cuts nationwide. About 1,600 of those will be in the Application Services division, and some of those jobs are based in RTP. More cuts are expected in the System Technology group and the Global Technology Services group.
The Alliance is the union that represents IBM employees. IBM is notoriously secretive about layoffs when it makes them, and pinning down exact numbers of Research Triangle jobs to be affected will be difficult. Conrad said Wednesday that it's been several months since IBM has hired significantly in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the new IBM job postings are in India, China, the Asian Pacific and Latin America. "It's shocking. It's abrupt. Every U.S. citizen should condemn IBM, for shipping American jobs overseas," Conrad said.

A reader comment follows:
- It's a shame that the IBM legacy of full employment has ended and that outsourcing is the company's answer to competition. And also a statement of complete failure for the NC Commerce Department and those who set up RTP in the first place---to be unable to keep employment in the Triangle that they created years ago. RTP is being hollowed out, and the state of NC is doing nothing about it, just standing there while RTP dies.
Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record: Assemblyman demands investigation into IBM job cuts. Outsourcing of jobs to India raises red flags, he says. By Christine Young. Excerpts: Assemblyman Gregory Ball is demanding a state investigation into IBM offshoring practices while taking taxpayer dollars. A few minutes ago, Ball, R-Patterson, said he was drafting a letter to Chairman Richard Brodsky of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions to request bipartisan hearings on the matter. “IBM seems to have a long-term approach to outsourcing,” Ball said, “and my fear is they’re actually using taxpayer funds to subsidize offshoring good-paying American jobs.” IBM did not reply to e-mails requesting comment.
Ball is particularly disturbed by the $45 million Empire State Development Corporation paid IBM on Dec. 15 in return for not cutting jobs in East Fishkill in 2008. Only weeks after cashing the check, IBM slashed hundreds of East Fishkill workers. “If they’re taking New York state taxpayer dollars while it was their intent all along to offshore these jobs, then those dollars need to be returned,” Ball said. “And we need to find every means possible at our disposal to get that money back.” ...

Ball said Big Blue behavior highlights the need for reform. “This is exactly why we should be focusing our energies on supporting small and medium enterprises, small business owners,” he said, “instead of subsidizing large multinational corporations with global reach, especially those with a proactive offshoring plan, like IBM.”
Triangle Business Journal: IBM's RTP cuts to affect 334. By Chris Coletta. Excerpts: News of the layoffs first hit Wednesday, and a union official confirmed Thursday that the cuts at IBM’s roughly 11,000-person Research Triangle Park operations had been widespread. But it hadn’t been clear how many people had been given the ax because IBM is typically secretive about its layoffs – or, in company parlance, “resource actions.” The company confirmed Thursday that it was laying people off across its U.S. footprint but didn’t say where the cuts were or how many people were being cut.
The requirements of the WARN Act, however, forced the company's hand. The last day for employment of the workers included in IBM’s WARN filing will be no earlier than May 26, according to a letter filed with the state by Robert Greenberg, IBM’s senior state executive for North Carolina. Employees are eligible for “a broad range of services and assistance designed to support them through this transition,” according to the letter.
Globe and Mail: IBM cutting jobs across Canada, spokesman says. Excerpts: IBM Canada Ltd. is cutting an unspecified number of jobs across the country, according to a spokesman for the computer and software company. Mike Boden told The Canadian Press that IBM Canada is in the midst of cuts that will affect “a wide range of jobs and positions,” from executives to customer service staff. “There's no specific area being targeted and no specific region — it's across the country,” he said Thursday. “From our perspective this is just the way we manage resources depending on the needs of clients and how that changes.” ...
Canadian staff work at various facilities, including a software lab in Markham, Ont., a microelectronics manufacturing plant in Bromont, Que., and other data centres across the country. IBM is shifting labour to lower-cost regions like India to maintain its profits at a time when other technology companies' earnings are tumbling.
San Francisco Business Times: Labor slams IBM for job cuts while seeking stimulus. Excerpt: Lee Conrad, national coordinator of Alliance@IBM which is seeking union representation at IBM, told BusinessWeek, "It's all about greed. They're moving work offshore to pay lower wages and lower taxes. IBM shouldn't have their hands on stimulus money if they're offshoring work." IBM CEO Sam Palmisano was among a group of tech executives that met with Pres. Barack Obama earlier this year looking for some of the $8 billion the U.S. plans to spend on high-speed rail and a share of the $20 billion to be spend on digital health records.
System iNetwork: IBM Layoffs Continue While Company Creates New Jobs Overseas. Excerpts: No surprise here: IBM is coming under fire again for removing job positions from the United States and North America in favor of increased hiring in India. The global company has clearly been consistently increasing its available positions in India and in other parts of the world while slowly draining its U.S.-based pool of talent.
The point isn't so much that IBM is having layoffs--what tech company isn't?--the point is that it sure as heck seems as if IBM is intentionally shifting away from presumably more expensive American employees in favor of cheaper labor. It seems a bit un-American, right? Especially while we're in the middle of a recession.

In a CNN report, Lee Conrad, national coordinator for Alliance@IBM, which is a pro-union group that has been fighting IBM's outsourcing for years, is quoted as saying, "We're outraged that jobs cuts are happening in the U.S. and the work is being shifted offshore. This comes at the same time IBM has its hand out for stimulus money. This to us is totally unacceptable."
InformationWeek: IBM Layoffs Include Wide Ranging U.S. Job Cuts.. By Paul McDougall. Excerpts: It's not a good day to be an IT specialist in IBM (NYSE: IBM)'s Global Business Services unit. More than 600 workers carrying that title were given walking papers Thursday as part of a sweeping reorganization under which Big Blue is eliminating as many as 5,000 positions in the United States, according to sources and internal IBM documents.
"In an effort to rebalance skills, eliminate redundancies, and deliver greater economic efficiencies, IBM Global Business Services is announcing a resource action affecting U.S. employees in Application Services," says an IBM document dated March 26 that has been obtained by InformationWeek. The cuts in GBS Application Services alone number 1,674, according to the documents, which show that the redundancies are wide ranging and affect IBM locations across the country.

In addition to the more than 600 IT specialists impacted by the restructuring, the layoffs cover a broad swath of other positions -- from 53 partners in the Security and Privacy Services group to one 58-year-old "teleservices professional." Other jobs axed include those of dozens of IT architects, sales specialists, managing consultants, systems analysts, and financial analysts. Not included in what IBM, which cut more than 4,000 jobs earlier this year, euphemistically calls a "resource action" are the unit's 10 VPs.
Washington Post: IBM to Cut 5,000 Jobs; D.C. Area Largely Not Affected. By Kim Hart. Excerpts: Officials began notifying employees on Wednesday and throughout yesterday about the layoffs. Technology services giant is in the process of shifting a large number of jobs to lower-cost regions, such as India. The cuts will largely not affect the 3,400 IBM employees in the Washington region who focus on providing information technology services to the federal government, a growing business for the company.
"My understanding is that it isn't targeting the people who have skills leaning toward federal or local governments," said Ben Pring, who follows the company for market research firm Gartner. "Outsourcing those jobs doesn't fly in the government context." An IBM spokesman declined to comment.
ComputerWorld: IBM layoffs raise ire in N.Y. State Assembly. Fallout from the job cuts spread over social networks. By Patrick Thibodeau. Excerpts: New York State Assemblyman Greg Ball, a Republican whose district includes IBM's home county of Westchester, called for a legislative hearing to look into IBM's layoffs in light of the state's multimillion-dollar investments to help the company. "My fear is that IBM has planned to offshore large portions of [its] business and meanwhile [is] accepting taxpayer dollars under a guise of keeping those positions here," Ball said in an interview. "And if that's the case, then those dollars should be returned." ...
Ron Hira , an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of Outsourcing America, said IBM has spelled out a plan to shift jobs to India and "they are executing on it: Jettison high-cost workers in the U.S. and substitute them for workers in low-cost countries like India." ...

IBM's offshoring could also raise questions about projects funded under the government's massive stimulus plan. "If policymakers want to create jobs with taxpayer dollars, then they ought to ensure this creates jobs in the U.S. and not in India or other countries," said Hira. "IBM is clearly trying to hide the fact that stimulus dollars it receives will actually create jobs overseas rather than here in America."
CNN/Money: IBM not bidding for Satyam - source. Excerpt: IBM is not bidding for Satyam Computer Services, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. India's Economic Times had earlier reported that International Business Machines Corp -- along with others including private equity firm Apax Partners -- was among the bidders for the fraud-hit outsourcing company.
Austin American-Statesman: Is your employer 401(k) match being wasted? By Scott Burns. Excerpts: Imagine you lost as much money in your 401(k) plan as you've lost in the past year — only it happened much more slowly. You'd still be unhappy, right? Well, that is happening to millions of workers. Fortunately, you can do something about it.
Here's the story. Most employers and workers don't realize it, but employer matching contributions are often wasted money. In the long term, investment expenses gobble up the employer contributions. Basically, those employer contributions don't go to the employee; they go to the financial services industry as fees for managing the money.
EE Times: Offshoring backlash rises as layoffs mount. Engineering groups are asking why companies are still shipping jobs overseas, and where Obama stands on the practice. By George Leopold. Excerpts: Workers cried foul in late January when IBM Corp. announced the layoff of about 2,800 U.S. employees, with union officials claiming the company was sending jobs offshore. IBM officials provided few details about the layoff but did launch a counteroffensive called Project Match to connect displaced U.S. workers with job openings overseas. The project would require U.S. workers to relocate to a low-wage country like India and accept a salary at the going rate for the area, although the company said it would help with relocation costs. The gambit seemed to impress few, least of all representatives of IBM workers and other offshoring opponents. ...
Outsourcing opponents also complain that the high-tech industry is using euphemisms like "rebalancing" to blunt the growing chorus of complaints about layoffs. Said IEEE-USA's Day: "Is 'rebalancing' the new 'downsizing'? We really don't know what that means." Regardless of how companies attempt to soft-pedal layoffs through terms like rebalancing and an another IBM formulation, "resource action," labor groups agree that the upshot is the same: You're out of a job. ...

Among those who have been highly critical of the Obama administration is Ron Hira, an assistant professor of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology and co-author of Outsourcing America: The True Cost of Shipping Jobs Overseas and What Can Be Done about It. "American workers have no real representation in Washington," Hira wrote in a February column for EE Times. "While unions like Alliance@IBM are doing yeoman's work on labor issues, it's simply not enough; their ranks, and therefore their resources, are too small."
New York Times: Labor Agency Is Failing Workers, Report Says. By Steven Greenhouse. Excerpts: The federal agency charged with enforcing minimum wage, overtime and many other labor laws is failing in that role, leaving millions of workers vulnerable, Congressional auditors have found. In a report scheduled to be released Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office found that the agency, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, had mishandled 9 of the 10 cases brought by a team of undercover agents posing as aggrieved workers. ...
“When you have weak penalties and weak enforcement, that’s a deadly combination for workers,” said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, who, as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, asked the accountability office to do the report. “It’s clear that under the existing system, employers feel they can steal workers’ wages with impunity, and that has to change.” ...

The report said undercover agents recorded Wage and Hour Division officials urging workers who complained to file lawsuits. And on one recording, an investigator appeared to back off quickly on demanding back pay when an undercover agent posing as a wage-violating employer said he was financially stretched. According to the report, the employer said, “Well, you know, like I said, all of our contracts have dried up, we really don’t have anything coming in, so. ... .” The investigator responded, “O.K., so you’re not in a position where you can pay him?” When the employer said no, the investigator seemingly gave up, saying he would let the worker “know that he has a private right of action to pursue the funds.”
IBM Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Big Blue's Contrarian Manifesto" by "ibmaccountant". Full excerpt: Even the 80 hour a week, 100%+ utilization IGS employees that are client facing and on the client sites doing billable work are getting the axe. Today one close friend of mine, who had worked 20+ billable hours all last weekend at a new customer installation that's behind schedule with me and had already put in over 40 hours this week was sitting 2000 miles away from his home working on a system when he got the tap from his RDM. He quietly picked up his things and went straight to the airport, not even telling any of his engagement team or the customer what happened. Not even the PM realized it until the client executive went nuts and called him to raise hell.

New on the Alliance@IBM Site

IBM employee letter to New York Congressman Hal. Full excerpt: Hi John: I joined your Town Hall conference call Wednesday evening Feb. 12th,I had difficulty joining the call and missed some questions. I have to declare due to the fact of the massive IBM layoffs in the Hudson Valley I was surprised not to hear this topic addressed. I have just been laid off from IBM Research in Yorktown Heights NY, along with thousands of other IBM US employees.
The irony is these layoffs came a few days after IBM announced record profits. It was also around this time IBM CEO met with President Obama regarding the creation of future IT jobs within the US. I guess it was a great photo op for Sam Palmisano "IBM CEO" the photo's were splashed all over IBM internal web sites.

To get to the point within IBM there appears to be a disturbing trend. IBM is hiring foreign Post Docs on student visas such as H1B as supplemental workers; the older experienced US employees are asked to train them, after training IBM then layoff the older workers, after a certain amount of time to avoid litigation IBM hires full time the foreign Post Doc. This trend appears to be a way for IBM to get cheap foreign labor, I presume this may be the trend throughout many US companies.

As a NY State Congressman you should take heed and visit IBM Research Division Yorktown Heights NY and take careful note of the vast amount of IBM non US employees at this site, as compared to 5-6 years ago. The numbers are astounding.

A year ago last November an older IBM colleague and personal friend was laid off after IBM hired a foreign Post Doc. The older IBM'er trained the foreign Post Doc, the Post Doc then took over some of his tasks, eventually the IBM'er was informed that he will no longer be required and was laid off, he subsequently accuses his management of firing him in order to open a position for the foreigner, IBM management obviously denies the accusation. Well guess what: he was laid off. IBM after a certain period of time which probably avoids litigation concerns hire the Post Doc as a full time employee at a lower pay rate.

My case is similar, 2 years ago I worked with a excellent summer intern and recommended to my manager to hire this person. Last August he hired this person who is now a Post Doc and foreign national on a student visa working as a supplemental IBM employee. I was asked by my manager to train this person on very high tech specialized equipment. During this period after reflecting on what happened to my friend it crossed my mind that I may be training my replacement. Well guess what , I was right. I have been with IBM for 22 years and had excellent yearly reviews. My colleague was with IBM over 25 years and also had excellent reviews.

The US work force is in dire need of immediate assistance. Not only do you see foreign workers taking US high tech jobs it is the same story throughout all US industry. Last April I spoke with laid off construction workers in San Francisco California who are being replaced by mainly illegal latino's who are taking advantage of the sanctuary city policy and pricing local workers out of the jobs market.

My question is : WHEN and HOW or IF, you and your colleagues in Congress intend to address the sheer undermining of the US work force. Like most US citizens it is my opinion these concerns will fall on deaf ears. The US citizens approval rating for Congress clearly reflects my opinion. Prove me wrong

Job Cuts Status & Comments page

Comment 3/22/09: I am part of IBM india 2000 new hires. Hired at approximately 5000 dollars per year salary. This 2000 hires would approximately support 50,000 people in the economy. Many folks will eat a good meal. IBM might be laying off folks in high cost counties but it is doing lot of good in cheaper economies. So, if you count the people affected in a positive way by IBM. I would SAY IBM IS DOING LOT OF GOOD. And, REMEMBER IBM IS A GLOBAL COMPANY. It answers to all of humanity, not just to US citizens. GOD HELP US ALL TO MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE. -Raju-
Comment 3/22/09: To -Done-, great write-up. Please consider posting your thoughts on Glassdoor.com. Below (for all) is a review I just read on Glassdor.com that I had to pass along, as I found it to be one of the best descriptions of the situation I've read on this excellent (and free) service. If you're not a member, just write up a review of your thoughts on IBM to sign up and gain immediate access to other IBM reviews along with reviews by employees of other companies you may be thinking of working for. Here's the review - from an Advisory Software Engineer in Rochester, MN, entitled, “Like Chinese water torture - drip drip drip”:
Pros of working for IBM: If you can start as an executive (VP in IBM speak) you can do no wrong. Mistakes are rewarded, and successes are greatly rewarded. If you are not a VP you will work with some of the smartest, nicest (for the moment) and least appreciated people you can imagine. But that is changing. The IBM US corporate culture used to be a culture of cooperation and working together for the benefit of all, and some of the old-timers still have that attitude lingering around. Try to work with them if you can find them, but their numbers are dwindling because...

Cons of working for IBM: The current IBM US culture is a culture of open competition beneath a veneer of civility. The 'nice guys' get laid off, leaving the schemers and back-stabbers and team leaders who understand that whomever reports the status of a project controls who stays and who goes. Lies are commonplace as no one ever tells bad news. Low level management is swamped, impotent, and powerless. Yearly appraisals are a farce - the ten percent 'fast-trackers' are openly praised and rewarded and everyone else is left alone or fired. There is no 'meritocracy' at IBM. A true meritocracy would know that it is possible for everyone to be meritorious, especially if you have hired the best people there are.

At IBM the appraisal system is more of a lottery where one out of ten is treated as a champion and everyone else, the other 90 percent, are considered not good enough. The 90 percent, the serfs, are expected to fight amongst themselves and compete for the prized top spots. Since the contest for top dog is rigged and secret with no clear metrics, the serfs pretty much ignore the ratings and do what they can. Why work hard when you aren't rewarded? Why work hard when It is easier to play games and surf the web and grab open source stuff and pass problems around. If your job is a game of musical chairs for a year and a mad scramble at the end to pick the loser then why bust your butt? If the stock slumps no matter what you do then why bust your butt? If the company doesn't care about you then why care about the company? Layoffs are kept as secret as possible and happen quarterly.

Actually the IBM management style is mostly secretive. Metrics change. What was good last year is bad this year. You never know where you stand. You may get a bonus 'variable pay' or get laid off. Management, even first line managers, are always 'somewhere else' talking about 'something else' and are hidden as much as possible. As a result fear is commonplace. It is every man for himself and nobody really knows what 'doing a good job' means anymore. Some of the best and brightest are laid off so what exactly does 'doing a great job' mean?

Advice to IBM Senior Management: I don't know if it is a blessing or it is a curse to have the knowledge of how great IBM used to be and how far IBM has fallen. You should be ashamed of yourselves, every one of you. Shame on you. You have taken a great company and turned it into nothing but a 'business case' for enriching yourselves at the expense of the workers, the customers, and the stockholders. You have lost touch with your humanity and you are cowardly hiding behind your layers of PR and huge layers of bureaucracy. During the Great Depression TJ chose to have himself and IBM be a leader. Now, at a time of similar need, you are showing your true nature and vision and it is sadly, sadly lacking. You think Africa is the growth market for IBM? You ignore the big, big changes that are already starting regarding the end of cheap energy and the need for carbon caps and smart grids?! Sadly, the answer is that IBM is nothing anymore, IBM is just another poorly run company with no vision and no leader trying to optimize an outdated and failed business model. -Left IBM 2/28-
Comment 3/23/09: Diablogue: - Most of the packages extend only medical, not dental or vision, benefits under a Transitional Medical Plan (TMP). The length of coverage depends on an employee's years of service ....12 months coverage for 25+ years of service ... 6 months coverage for 5+ but less that 25 years of service ... 3 months for less than 5 years of service -The Truth-
Comment 3/24/09: Good luck Nervous but Prepared. And don't believe a word of what they say - that your skills are not needed anymore or it is performance based. It has nothing to do with any of that. Your salary is going overseas to create jobs there. Hold your head high - you have more dignity and honor than any of the senior executives who are supposedly "leading" this company. My best to you & your family. And - those who are left DO SOMETHING about it. They can't fire or lay you off for joining union. I assume there is some law that protects you. -annonymous-
Comment 3/24/09: I heard a rumor that the next RA victims are not being offered a job in one of the GDFs but instead are being told their job is moving to India/Brazil/China/BFE and they can opt to move with it or 'voluntarily resign'. I've also heard that a handful may be offered a job in a GDF, but they'll be brought in as a new hire, and a reduced rate and band. At one time I would have dismissed this as ridiculous but the greed and shortsightedness of IBM management has taught me otherwise. Anyone else hearing this? Anyone know if those 'voluntarily resigning' after refusing to uproot their families and move across the country have been getting severance or are litigating? -G D F'ers
Comment 3/25/09: Hey, check out this smoking gun video on how US corporations scam the H1B program to meet visa program requirements and get around hiring US workers. Truly disgusting how they pretend to consider qualified workers. http://www.wimp.com/thisscary/ -TiredOfTheLies-
Comment 3/25/09: I am guessing the other shoe will drop - I got a similar message to complete Claim by 03/25/09. We have too many people on the bench - most of the test work has gone to India. About 400 people in this group sitting on the bench. Our management sucks - they don't tell us anything. I see plenty of SAP jobs but they don't provide us any training - it is only bullshit EOE, Ethics, etc. training. -SEA&T 6C-
Comment 3/25/09: It looks like IBM is accelerating the layoffs before Volcker can catch them for “corporate welfare” and to absorb Sun's employees. I can only hope that the sale doesn't go through. Smacks of an antitrust issue to me but that's only IF our labor department, Justice Department, et al, had a backbone to stand up to Big Blue. Even the Computer and Communications Industry Association has chimed in saying that IBM's “ clear attempt [by I.B.M.]. to purchase a company solely to foreclose competition in the mainframe marketplace, protecting its cash cow at the expense of consumers.” Ha! We know the lawyers in IBM are making a good wage. Time to wake up everyone. Post everywhere and anywhere. -Crezy- Alliance reply: It also smacks of another opportunity for IBM to offshore 10,000 US jobs that formally belonged to SUN employees. See the future.
Comment 3/25/09: What this is, is more of Sammy pushing for his publicly announce $11 EPS. He can not not make it or he'd seem the fool and go down as another CEO who missed the mark. He makes it and he gets a huge payout for meeting a stretch goal AND gets a place in American management hall of fame. He's just a greedy thug who doesn't care about his country, only his wallet and fluffing his overblown ego. Additionally, since he never visits with the lower ranks, he's a coward as well. -GDF Dodger-
Comment 3/26/09: One third of AMS is being cut. -anonymous-
Comment 3/26/09: 7 -8 % of work force cut today in MT&S @ Riveredge facility in Atlanta Ga. Contractors and Supplemental workers kept while IBM regulars IBMers resourced. -Anonymous- Alliance reply: Thank you for this information. To all posters please give us as much detail as possible.
Comment 3/26/09: I got hit today, in GTS, I was in a billable engagement, and had a good review (recently got raise and bonus) It doesn't make sense!!!!! -Whacked today-
Comment 3/26/09: My manager called me this morning to tell me that I was part of the resource action. Here is the information from the package: * 7 people in GTS Marketing * 17 people in Global BCRS * 8 people in General Business Services and Procure to Pay Services * 5 people in Strategy and Business Development * 45 people in Internet Security Systems * 78 people in Infrastructure Services * 16 people in Maintenance and Technical Support * 13 people in GTS Sales -GTS employee-
Comment 3/26/09: I got the axe last year in June. I can tell everyone that after 32 year there is life after IBM. I sleep better, wake up not looking over my shoulder and have no regrets about leaving. I did NOT search for another job in IBM. Now at the end of the day I can look at what I've done and feel good about it. Sam, Randy and their cronies will all get their just rewards on judgment day, fear not..... -Steve-
Comment 3/26/09: My husband is GBS SEA&T in Boulder - 4 people in his dept cut already...he's headed into his managers office now... -anonymous-
Comment 3/26/09: Just got the axe, they are waiting for my current assignment to end as my separation date. Package details are equal to those mentioned on posts earlier described. here. -AngryandBlue-
Comment 3/26/09: I was an AMM developer for System x in STG. Two months ago, they cut 30% of the group. Today, they announced that they will be outsourcing the product. They laid off the entire 2nd line (except for 1 manager and all of the architects). No developers were spared. -Squeal Like a Pig-
Comment 3/26/09: To all those laid off today, you have my deepest sympathies and well wishes for good luck outside of IBM. You will come to remember this day as the day your life improved, even though you may not feel that way right now. I was let go January 27 from STG, so I'm out there with you looking for a job. TO THOSE wondering why they were selected despite top performance and solid ratings: IT IS ALL ABOUT SAVING MONEY. Those selected are those that are HCE's (highly compensated) making the most money. They will not tell you this because this also happens to coincide with age, older workers are being let go, and IBM does not want to be seen as discriminating based on age. They are discriminating based on salary. Think about this: are you the oldest and/or highest paid in your group ? That will help explain. -RA'd in EFK-
Comment 3/26/09: 10% Job cuts at IBM Edmonton today. -IBM-
Comment 3/26/09: Got this information from one of the executives that IBM's goal is to move 80% of internal jobs overseas and keep external jobs (direct customer related ones). All the open positions that are posted in Global Opportunity Marketplace (IBM's internal job postings site) is simply an eye-wash. These positions are either temporarily frozen or already filled in. Plus for one position 50-100 applicants are applying.What is the chance of one who is RA'd getting selected.? To add to this from today more applicants are going to apply for these jobs.
There is no value for honesty and hard work in this company. Managers are not taught to respect and appreciate the ones that work hard for their efforts. When a contractor or an employee leaves the company after years of hard work for the project, there is not a single note of appreciation or notification to the team to let everybody know this. It is sad that there is no ethics in this workplace. While they leave behind so many households with no income, these executives celebrate on April 1st at RTP site with pancake breakfast ? What a Shame! -AngryCitizen-
Comment 3/26/09: Other companies are accepting across the board pay cuts to avoid resource actions. Why not IBM? Simple. IBM management is all about themselves and greed; so they figure that employees would not consider their colleagues and stick together to try to keep everyone employed. It's so sad: so true. -empathy-
Comment 3/26/09: To the new people - my sympathies & a couple of words of advice. (1) Get on Linked-in. (2) Scrutinize your severance $ when you get it - I know of one person who got exactly 50% of what he was owed. Took 3 escalations to get the right amount. (3) If the retraining people give you a hard time about tuition reimbursement, keep at it -- I had to resubmit a form 4 times, with an equal # of phone calls, but they finally did reimburse me. (4) Call ESC twice after your last day to make sure you continue to get subsidized insurance. I called twice just to be on the safe side & they had not recorded my request on the first call. Not sure if it's deliberate or if they are just overwhelmed with all the calls, requests, etc. -RA'd in Feb-
Comment 3/26/09: The continuing carnage is absolutely sickening. Ten thousand of us already this year to create 2-3x that many jobs in countries that may end up as our enemies...still enjoying all the tax breaks and licking their lips for United States Stimulus taxpayer money? Someone should call for immediate Congressional hearings. It is beyond outrageous. -laid off in Jan after 19 years-
Comment 3/26/09: The really large numbers in GBS are in the IT specialist area, especially Sr. IT Specialist (also listed as Senior IT Specialist). Maybe there are just a lot more of us than other job types, but the number is really concentrated here. Perhaps these technical jobs are the easiest to offshore. The senior positions are also the older professionals that got slammed. A whole lot 40 and older. Younger ages seem far fewer in counts -Anonymous-
Comment 3/26/09: I just call from my manager and got 30 day notice. She said half of our dept in SEAT is getting the shaft. Good Luck to all! -Anonymous-
Comment 3/26/09: Just got whacked today. Let's call it what it is, a firing. A layoff means that at sometime we'd be hired back, and that ain't going to happen. I have 35 years of service but 19 was grandfathered in when IBM bought the company I had worked for. I just turned 57. For most of my career I was rated above average (2+) and some average (2), but never in all my working years was I rated below average (3), and on my last review that's what I received, so I knew the target was on my back. I make less then 70k so money is not the issue.
But, like other people have written, ratings, skills, length of service, 60 hr work weeks don't mean anything, when upper mgt says heads have to roll, lower mgt has to roll the dice to see who gets whacked because all depts are at bare bones cream of the crop workers. I will at least have some money coming in from the pension but not a full pension because it is offset from the other company I once worked for. And that pension I can't touch until I'm 59 for partial, and 65 for full. I guess now I'll have time to go back to school and learn the Indian or Polis or Spanish or....... language and setup a company that will translate helpdesk calls. Or maybe I'll just join the circus. A real circus not the IBM one I got canned from. -Happy Man-
Comment 3/26/09: Managed Business Process Services Americas Employees Selected. - 97 let go today including me. New Jersey, St. Louis, Charlotte -Unemployed-
Comment 3/26/09: For those in global services supporting a customer contract: if you were hit by this RA or members of your support teams were hit, are you also aware of any move of support moving to GDF/GDCs? Would you be willing to mention what accounts are being affected this month? Some folks (especially those working remotely) may not be aware that there are people being RA'd that are supporting the same contract as they are. -tinfoilhat-
Comment 03/26/09: I just watched the interview on CNN, with Lee Conrad, regarding the latest round of firings. I just want to say that I'm very proud to be an Alliance member and very proud to see Lee working hard for us. Thanks Lee! And, you looked great on TV. Sam looked like a bloated gray fat cat. If he had a cigar hanging out of his mouth, it would have completed the picture. (sorry, nothing bad intended for cigar connoisseurs) -Kathi Cooper-
Comment 03/26/09: I just saw Lee Conrad on CNN with Wolf Blitzer railing IBM for shipping jobs overseas while holding their hand out for stimulus money. My only hope is that the public's ire reaches AIG levels over this. Regardless, I want to thank the Alliance for getting the word out. I'm very proud to say I'm a dues paying Alliance member today! -grayhair-
Comment 03/26/09: Hope you all caught our wonder Mr. Lee Conrad on Lou Dobbs (CNN)Tonight. Lou did a great piece covering ibm's sleezzball tactics from many angles. Including the fact that Obama apparently no longer cares about our jobs being outsourced. Lee made an appearance, great piece, thanks Lee. -Lee's_The_Man-
Comment 03/26/09: Lee Conrad made CNN's Wolfe Blitzer today. Congrats Lee!!! -News-Coverage-
Comment 03/26/09: Hey folks, the Alliance is ALWAYS RIGHT ON with the RA's and forced firings guidance information. Why would the Alliance drum up rumors? It would only hurt their cause to misinform. Face it. IBM misinforms. Ok, when are you folks reading this that are not members going to BELEIVE that a union through the Alliance is RIGHT ON?!?! -AllianceUnionYES-
Comment 03/26/09: I was laid off on 2/23. No real explanation was given, but just a change in strategy. I am 54 years old, with 17 years with IBM. I thought IBM invested in people. Do they really care? Just think about this. If they asked all employees to give up 1 week's worth of pay, this could have saved many many jobs. But I suppose that would be too easy. My exit interview lasted 6 minutes and 51 seconds, mostly about a couple of forms I needed to completed. Nothing, I mean nothing about my career. I have not heard from anyone since I was let go. NOBODY CARES about you. You have to take care of yourself. So my question...could there be a class action suit against IBM for age, salary, etc discrimination? These executives are lounging on their yachts and taking their corporate jets to some golf outing, while thousands laid off employees and their families are suffering. Signed, -Loyalty? What Loyalty-
Comment 03/26/09: Today IBM laid off half the ClearCase L3 team, good luck getting bugs fixed. Looks like they are moving ClearCase and ClearQuest software jobs to India and China. Strong rumors internally of more layoffs coming in June -jobtoindia-
Comment 03/26/09: Canada is getting hit as well. Seems like Customer Service Centers and other services are currently hit. -Izno-
Comment 03/26/09: S&C Associate Partner in Tech Strategy. Let go today. -anon-
Comment 03/26/09: Previous IBM Employee - laid off after LEAN 2007 from Global Services, wonder why the remaining employees are surprised.? After all I remember trying with-in the 30 day notification to get a job with-in IBM, only to have a freeze implemented and managers that did not help to place us like then did for the group previous. It was already exposed that the jobs would be moved to India. Just so you know, I support you all and wish you well. One of the Older ones that was let go. Good Luck in the Job Market, you will need it. -DEH-
Comment 03/26/09: Hello all - first of all, my condolences to all affected by the job cuts today. I am the wife of what is now an ex-GBSer (was in SCM), and I've been reading the posts to the Alliance site religiously since we started to feel uncertain about our security with IBM. I wanted to thank you for all of the information during this difficult time - while we are still shocked and struggling with the news, I feel that we were much better prepared due to the information from the Alliance. The coverage from the WSJ yesterday is truly a testament to your efforts. All the best with your unionization efforts... at the very least, you've empowered us to feel better prepared (financially and emotionally) for the lurking job cut. -WifeOfEx-GBSer-
Comment 03/26/09: I was laid off on Feb 23rd (my last day) from data stage support (Mass). I can say this much, it was the best day of my life and I have found life after IBM. The manager there was just lost and a mean person to boot. I guess IBM managers are called "Idiots become managers" for a reason. The product is full of holes and I cannot believe that clients are gullible enough to buy such a poorly written and tested product after paying such large sums of money. To all those Ra'ed take hope-life gets easier when you simplify it. God be with you all. I wish we had a union at IBM. -darthvader-
Comment 03/26/09: I was a first line manager in SWG overseeing a group of software engineers. The team sacrificed themselves last year to complete our assignments (including mandatory 6 day weeks, many many all nighters, deferred vacation, etc.) and yet that wasn\'t enough. In their infinite wisdom, the executives decided to consolidate our mission so the majority of us, including myself, were part of the 1/21 RA. I know of other departments at our site whose missions were "consolidated" and most, including the managers, lost their jobs. I wanted to point out that the first line managers have almost no control over these decisions; they\'re being made at a much higher level. Unfortunately the first line managers have to execute these decisions while keeping a straight face. It is an extremely difficult role to be put in. Being a manager in IBM these days is a very nasty proposition. Any good manager that cares for their employees is going through hell at this time.... -ex-SWG manager-
Comment 03/26/09: I am on a customer account that is going to CSC in June. I was RA'd today, but with an end date of june 17th, the close of the account -Coach Grumpy-
Comment 03/26/09: My WAH job at RTP was RAed today..;.last day 5/26. I work in GBS AMS Comm Sector. -anonymous-
Comment 03/26/09: I was a GTS manager, with IBM for over 10 years. In January, I told my boss I was considering a resignation for a position with another company, and he shoved me out the door. Now I see why. One less guy they have to RA. I left because of the direction IBM took. No more "IBMer" culture. The greedy executives make the first and second line managers do their dirty work. And everything you think is corrupt about PBC ratings, well it is 10 times worse than that. Last time I did them, I was told what ratings I was giving, by people who never even met my direct reports. And I had no way to explain why people who were "solid contributors" and working 60 hours per week and meeting their targets were not being given a bonus, from a company that made $103.6 billion in record revenue in 2008. Leaving was the best career decision I ever made. -Gladileft-
Comment 03/26/09: I was RAed from CIO division (aka CHQ corporate HQ) division today. 25 years of service -- poof. I wrote a little program to read the RA package and calc totals for the division. Total employees: 3027, Total Selected for RA: 405, Total NOT Selected: 2622. Percent of Total RAed: 13.38%. Of course, the above numbers are global so the percent of US workers affected is dramatically higher since this was a primarily a US layoff. RAs were definitely skewed to affect older workers. Example: 25% percent of workers aged 58 were RAed. Age 59=25%, age 60=25%, age 65 was the winner with 46%. Most younger workers were RAed at rates of 7-15%. -Gone Fishing-
Comment 03/26/09: Speak to any DE worth their salt and they will tell you straight up that the plan is to move everything offshore in about 5-7 years time and I mean everything. I spoke to two of the brightest and they agree on this topic. The only think Sam Palmisano worries about is his own pay package and nothing else. American ingenuity at it's best-slowly but surely-killing this once great country! When will IBM realize that it has too many useless managers who waste time on stupid PBC's/IDP's etc and are not even technical.Sad what they have done to this once great company! -zahra-
Comment 03/26/09: Someone mentioned that a large group selected for RA were Sr. IT Specialists who are older employees. I think part of that reason is because more and more contracts are looking for lower band people (i.e. global resources) so many Sr. IT Specialists were too high of a band to work on those contracts. They then ended up on the bench with no work to do and became easy targets for RA. -Sr. IT Specialist-
Comment 03/26/09: It seems to me that the government is overlooking one of the critical components of this economic meltdown - the offshoring of American jobs. IBM is one of the worst offenders in this regard. This one case represents over $500 million dollars of American wages being sent to India. All the while Smiling Sam cuts contractor pay rates (last November), thereby putting more people in financial crisis, and turns around and gets a $60 million bonus for his efforts. Greedy people like this are what has ruined our economy. Sending more jobs overseas in the midst of our worst economic crisis is tantamount to treason. -Concerned-
Comment 03/26/09: I was surprised to see 60% of the IT specialists installing systems and supporting my project on-site and actually doing billable work with high utilization levels get laid off today. The IBM PMO says they'll be easily replaced. Tomorrow I'm replacing the PMO and canceling the $13M contract. -Shocked IGS Client-
Comment 03/26/09: Band 8 in Atlanta, got the ax today. I thought IBM only had waves of layoffs in January and June.. $20 says there is another round in June, at least this big. My job is not going to BRIC; it's just going to be more work for the people staying with IBM. -GoneDaddyGone-
Comment 03/26/09: Hearing of 20-30% of individual departments let go from MBPS in SC. Not sure of the actual numbers or what departments. Most going to India -Following My Dreams-
Comment 03/26/09: At least 30 on the Hertz account in OKC. 12 from the Global Services (ADM) side. I spoke w/ my manager for the third time today in 6 months to find out that I am being cut. Came into IBM a year ago due to an outsourcing agreement. Kind of scared that for the next 30 days they will find some way to fire me w/o having to pay severance. Anyone else think this? -Anonymous-
Comment 03/26/09: Southbury, CT, Global Business Services Today I was informed that I was "selected" for the "resource action" (meaning the firing, for those who had the sense not to work in the business world). More than 25 in my department received the same grim news. I have over 20 years service. -DuesPayingIBMUnionAdvocate-
Comment 03/26/09: RA'ed today. Rated against my peers (1 person at my level 18 above my level), my skills lack compared to them hence being 2 for three years even though I've saved 2 million on my account. GDF was not an option. Tried to go to another sector and was told 'why bother. same job and they can't hire you' June has a RA and Sept has a HUGE company RA. Resource can't disclose details because Spam will know who spilled the beans. -A-non-A-mouse-
Comment 03/26/09: I left IBM almost 7 years ago after a fierce battle with a manager that openly favored certain employees and locations while putting the screws to the folks that worked for me. To say the least, I am glad that I left the company. Despite multiple efforts at "all" levels of the company, it became apparent that if it wasn't illegal, they didn't care - ethics be damned. I personally saw customers, employees, and business partners knowingly hurt by IBM actions. In fact, I was told that I should shut-up and keep my bonus in mind.
Well, now days, I work a nice 8:30 to 5:00 job five days a week about five miles from my house and my stress level is much lower. Each of you may face difficult challenges in getting to that next job or career, but it will come. For those of you that fault IBM management... Worry not, they are indeed unethical, greedy, bas****s that justify their actions by claiming that the company must come first (when what really comes first is their greed). But Sammy (and the rest of the losers) know deep down that they are hated by tens of thousands of current and ex-employees ... just like many of the dictators of our past . -lovinit-
Comment 03/26/09: I'm a 30+ year IT Architect in GBS, and have been spared yet again. I'm wondering why IBM doesn't offer a "package" to those of us who are retirement-eligible. I'd seriously consider leaving if I incented, esp. if I thought it would spare someone younger who would be hurt more than me by a layoff. But I don't recall seeing a "voluntary" package in years... -Ready-and-waiting-to-go-but...-
Comment 03/26/09: Was acquired by IBM last year, and pretty much the entire sales force RA'd today. Part of the new IMT model. Was told that there is a new position opening up and was encouraged to apply for it. I agree with the earlier comment, I think these have already been filled. Strange, after the pressure-cooker that has been my life over the last year, I am relieved. -Beendownthisroadbefore-
Comment 03/26/09: I work on the InfoSphere DataStage product here in Boca Raton, FLORIDA. What IBM is doing to us developers is cruel and unusual punishment. How much longer before they offshore all our jobs to India? Our Management is clueless and I have heard that there are many complaints with out Support organization which is bluntly called INEPT by clients as per a sales person that I spoke to. The sales person told me that in the InfoSphere DataStage world, product management and support management are totally useless and that the clients feel that they are speaking to a brick wall. I guess so long as the bigwigs get their money, they can continue to screw us around. As of tonight I will join the Alliance. -cruelibm-
Comment 03/26/09: I got laid off today. I just got assigned to a project for next 12 months and my team was as shocked as I was . The manager said all the bull***t and said please don't discuss with any one. Hello what are u talking about? The day will come when most of the jobs will be off-shored and then there will be no jobs here which will impact the economy and big companies will start closing and IBM will lose all those accounts and I guess then they will understand the concept of off-shoring .. my uncle use to say penny rich pound foolish .. Someday IBM will understand this. I spent all my life with IBM working my ass off having a utilization of more then 110% every year and then I got a call Hey Buddy good job now get lost and find another job with in IBM how is that possible when for 1 job 10k people are applying .. I am so angry I came all the way here and they want me to go back HEY WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND >> >>> -NON-IBM employee-
Comment 03/26/09: I urge EVERYONE to watch the first one minute of Sam Palmisano's White House(?) speech in which, while standing next to President Obama, Sam Palmisano says: "... We all agree we need to reignite growth in our country. We know we must create jobs for the 21st century..." I don't feel IBM's actions today supported these words. VIew the video clip here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1015566533 OR here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCsbY3u7Pfw -DuesPayingIBMUnionAdvocate-
Comment 03/26/09: I received my IBM Package Today. Atlanta Unclear of cuts at location. Div 07 - CMS/PSO under Sal Graziano ("Thief") Job Offsourced to Brazil. What other detail's do you need? -Anonymous-
Comment 03/26/09: Hi, I was let go too. My manager just called me to say that since jobs are moving to India, there is no need for this position here. Its pretty strange how can they openly say that. I am pretty depressed, this after you slog for 12-14 hrs a day working with global teams, on weekends. Its disgusting......... -annie-
Comment 03/27/09: At least 7 Service Rep's that I know of in NY/NJ Maint and tech support fired,,, 3/26,,, most had between 29 to 30 years.... Can't outsource people that fix IBM equipment to India, You actually need the people here in the US in front of the computer to replace the parts.. Sounds just like a general pruning of Staff to cut costs, with all the pressure of the economy and IBM having to lower there prices to customers -anon-
Comment 03/27/09: I just got "Resource Action'ed" yesterday(3/26) (how much further can these euphemism go!) after ten years of service with ibm . I hope that others have enough savings to sustain themselves after the cessation of unemployment benefits. I can only deduce that people are angry because of 3 reasons: as noted earlier IBM results were extremely well, the company is definitely not strapped for cash, buying Sun Micro- is no trivial shopping ; they are also hiring in India, and lastly they are after a share of the stimulus package pie.
While I feel, after ten years working in several countries under the ibm banner, that my "Resource Actioning" was nothing less personal than being delivered on the phone by someone I've never heard of before, the terms used in explaining the reason for my "RA" insulting even to a most mentally challenged chimpanzee (just tell me you are seeking equally skilled but less costly labor - pouring all over the news anyway - I can handle "the truth", I've been a solid contributor pbc2+over past years I know it can't be performance).

I still think that this is the capitalist, free market world that Americans have seemingly fought to create. Why do people assume that capitalism has to have a moral component? It is profit driven and hence amoral. I was not surprised. I've been a losing asset this year with bench time. Sadly there is no room for humanity in this system and I can't agree more with the insights of another commentator that IBM is taking advantage of the recession to execute pre-meditated plans since these are permanently lost not temporarily lost positions (but otherwise being filled in India). Similarly, the reason for the severance package is probably more for risk mitigation, and demoralized employees are less profitable. Either work on changing the system to be more human, "socialist" or accept the consequences of the current system when times are not rosy. It seems that in all cases exploitation always seems to find a way in. -Z-
Comment 03/27/09: I am the person who made the comment on 3/25/09 telling about my conversations with the two different Band 10s who mentioned the Black Thursday to me. I got a phone call from my manager yesterday while I was at a customer location to tell me that I have been selected for the resource action and would have 60 days to find another job or in IBM or I would be let go with a severance package. So I guess it would be fair to call that a Black Thursday for me. I said before that I was preparing myself for the news but I have to say this really devastated me. I am shocked that I could be actually doing work with a customer and while there be told that my services are no longer needed. -bbflander-
Comment 03/27/09: I am a div 6C employee outside of Atlanta. After almost 30 years of hard work, I got the boot yesterday. Told that a landed GR from India would be taking my job. Told to transition my work to another overworked IBMer, so that, I will not have to interface with the India employee. My overworked IBMer will transition the work. -Angry-
Comment 03/27/09: I read somewhere on this board that the rumor is that all internal jobs will go to India -- but that client-facing jobs stay here. Not true on the latter! I know several client-facing folks from S&D (e.g. bus dev execs, client execs -- with good ratings) who got whacked in Feb., plus some of the GBS people who got whacked yesterday were actually billable or very recently billable! -RA'd in Feb-
Comment 03/27/09: I hear the ISC is next - sourcing, BTO, general procurement, transformation etc. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: In facing an RA action I’ve learned a few things IBM's senior management has the same greed as those in AIG just a different industry and the comfort what they do is legal and overlooked. IBM HR is not there for the employee. A director indicated that they want employees and most 1rst lines to believe that HR is neutral. They are there solely to ensure IBM the entity never has any employee issues be it getting resources in the door or getting resources out of the door.
People in the know actually plan to shuffle the deck to project them selves. I had a director friend in CHQ tell me how and why. There are groups of senior employees/managers that have realized that an old mission is always a target for a resource action and a new mission looks “new” and important. When enough time passes or they hear rumors, they simply re-organize from a vertical coverage model to a horizontal coverage model (or vice versa) shuffle managers and high band employees.

He said there is a reason you saw a bunch of band 10 job openings posted at the beginning of this year for a minimal horizon that were very specific (they were created for a specific person and a defense against RA actions). After all it’s tough to RA a person in a new job (perfect match) who is part of a new organization with a new mission. He said people with real operational jobs and clients can reorganize this way. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: Yesterday's layoff hit the MA Lexington ClearCase group hard. IBM continues to move US software jobs to India and China. Mgmt is liking China more than India so expect jobs to start flowing there. -Gone in April-
Comment 03/27/09: I saw a copy of an email showing that in April that current employees will be receiving an email that IBM will no longer pay for work at home employees internet connections. The email stated that the employee should go to the nearest IBM location and if that location doesn't have space for you than they will pay for it. Obviously they are targeting work at home employees. This is the lowest beyond lowest. I have the perfect solution to this, it's called DIALUP. That will get them, "oh excuse me I can't attend that conference call because I'm on dial up" or how about in 4 hours you'll get that file I just replicated out" Getting absurd Sammy -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: My last day at IBM was February 26th, after 35 years of service there wasn't even a thank you from IBM. FYI to those who got their walking papers today. Pay attention to the Retirement Bridge Agreement if you're eligible. No one bothered to tell me that I was getting a bridge for 1 day to the end of the month. I got a call from my 2nd line telling me that I had to provided a signed copy of it could impact my pension. This was supposed to have been done as part of my exit interview. I don't blame my manager, he got the ax too. Totally bungled by IBM. I told him that would be a big mistake on IBM's part. I got an email a few days later, "never mind". BTW, for those who have the Health Spending Account. You're entitled to spend the entire yearly contribution, not just what you paid in. The account is front loaded so spend, spend, spend. :) -cut-loose-in-Feb-
Comment 03/27/09: Got cut yesterday. Have 30 days to find something within IBM. Only 5 years with IBM, but was moved from my home state to another one, bought a home, etc. Now will be stuck in a town that has no job possibilities and a mortgage I can not pay. Thanks IBM. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: Anonymous asks about a 26 week severance in the case where they had many years with IBM but left for a short time and was rehired. IBM will calculate your severance package based upon your MOST recent date of hire and not your original date of hire. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: I live less than 5 miles from my office location and my manager did not schedule any in person meetings or even any meeting for March 26/09. Around 11 he pinged me and asked me to call him and told me over the phone that "you have been laid off for business reasons". The conversation lasted a minute and he kept the phone. My entire team was cut and same approach was done to all of us and all of us live very close to work. Could anyone tell me if we can file a formal HR complaint against the way the issue was handled? My understanding is that if the employee lives within 30 miles of the office location, the manager should have in person meetings with them--please advise. -AnonymousSJ
Comment 03/27/09: In India, IBM has announced bonuses of more than a months salary for all the employees. -FromIBMIndiaSource-

Comment 03/27/09: Re posting of GBS cuts by age group, it's obvious gray-hairs were targeted. If we knew how many GBS started with by age group, the percentages would probably be startling enough to prove age discrimination. Here are the data groupings of those laid off in GBS:

Age	Number
20 to 24	8
25 to 29	35
30 to 34	117
35 to 39	198
40 to 44	192
45 to 49	300
50 to 54	366
55 to 59	275
60 to 64	154
65 to 69	26
70 and up	5

Are people filing with EEOC? http://www.eeoc.gov/types/age.html -Think-

Comment 03/27/09: I am also one of the latest 5000 - not all jobs are going to India - many to Argentina and Brazil where a lot of the work has already been moved - the quality of the work GR'd is less than par in my opinion and I feel it will come back to bite IBM in the future - contracts will leave due to lousy support - we all know the saying "you get what you pay for" - well it fits here - sub-par work and no loyalty for sub-par pay -out after 15-
Comment 03/27/09: To Shocked IGS Client...Thank you Thank you. If more customers would do this it would send the message home to SAM. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: To those hoping to find another job within IBM, don't waste your time. During a whack last year, we interviewed and made an offer to someone who was PERFECT. He accepted, then we were told NO, he wasn't eligible. A friend was whacked last fall, and she had interviewed several times before being told that since she'd signed the package, she was considered an external candidate and the jobs she was interviewing for were supposed to go to internal candidates. Do not believe them when they say you can take a different job within IBM. --
Comment 03/27/09: More cuts happening today in Div. 16. First-line manager called to say I wasn't part of resource action, but others in group were. -GovtSector-
Comment 03/27/09: to anon-SJ: you can file an HR complaint regarding how it was handled but good luck even getting your HR rep to respond to you, you're basically the plague now and they won't do anything, nor do they care. also, not to defend your 1st line but if he had to whack a whole team i dunno that i would have done it face to face either... unfortunately some of these 1st lines are being dumped into really bad spots by the likes of Joanne Collins-Smee... i know for me, when I was hit my manager did it over the phone partly because he himself was pretty tore up over the whole thing and ended up leaving the company on his own within a month because of the stress. -hit-by-the-sneeze-in-07-
Comment 03/27/09: They don't offer packages to people to voluntarily leave because it would not add to keeping the fear level high among the employees left. They want the slaves to be fearful of loosing their jobs, hoping it will motivate them to work harder/longer. Sammy and his cronies are basically sadistic sociopaths, laughing at the fools working 60+ hour weeks for chump change. -RA This Sam-
Comment 03/27/09: After 13 years with IBM I am part of the resource action. I work for PartnerWorld as a System Analyst/Web Developer and I have excellent evaluations, nothing but great comments from my peers, etc. I think this particular action has a lot to do with age. So far the majority of the resourced people that I am aware of are in their late 40s thru 60s.
It sickens me that Sam Palmisano stood next to President Obama and lied. He knew then that this was going to happen and he didn't care who it happened to because it didn't happen to him. Even if he were to be let go for any reason, he would get a severance package that would set him and his family up pretty for the rest of their lives.

I am just an employee number like the thousands of others in this situation,. They are offering access to “Project Match” calls – where you can work for IBM in other countries. However, it is at the local rate and is best suited for unmarried with no mortgages. It’s IBM’s sorry half-hearted attempt at trying to appear human and as far as I’m concerned, they have failed miserably. They don’t want to call it “layoffs” so they are calling it a “resource action”. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck….. I want to know if there is a class-action lawsuit in the works, what everyone else is doing about this, and where I can sign up. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: Remember at the beginning of the year, projections of layoffs would be 16K, thus there is still 7K more to come. Now we all need to do two things, tell your congress people that IBM does not deserve any stimulus money. Since the are costing US jobs and since they have enough cash to consider buying SUN,they obviously don't need the stimulus money. The stimulus money ought to go to companies more honorable than IBM. Also, there ought to be an item on the next ballot for stock holder meeting which requires all management positions to be out sourced to the cheapest country... if the current people want to move and get paid the local salaries, so be it. -George-
Comment 03/27/09: My job has been eliminated at IBM. Although I will not be release until later this year. It has nothing to do with job performance or the amount of work or even client satisfaction in the work. All high marks in these areas. It is all about the money and in my case age and existing health issues I am sure of. Potential ADA and Age Discrimination issues but most likely a waste of time pursuing. Ethically, Morally and Legally IBM is on the wrong side of these actions against american workers -IM an IBMer for today-
Comment 03/27/09: Keep in mind, that as IBM employees, India-based staff can be assigned to US-based assignments. Some are as "landed" participants in projects. -David-
Comment 03/27/09: All the personal stories of my fellow laid 'offers are heart wrenching. The worst by far I;ve read on another site is a National Guard soldier scheduled to deploy to Iraq in May and laid off yesterday by IBM - I think in NC. I urged him/her to write in here to get some press attention. One interview on Today Show and that soldier would have a job waiting when he/she returns. This is the ultimate disgrace - shipping an American Guardsman's job to India while he is headed overseas himself -- to serve this country!! -how low can you get?-
Comment 03/27/09: I'm a H1B employee. I wanted to separate from IBM couple of years back but IBM did not let me and promised to sponsor permanent residency. I believed IBM and declined the offers that I had. They started the process and now gave me a notice. I'm left no where. I cant even look for other opportunities now. Is this fair ? -Swetha-
Comment 03/27/09: This is beyond o-u-t-r-a-g-e-o-u-s; the question is, how much INSULT to INJURY will these Corporate Traitors & Thieves keep on subjecting the citizens of this country to? And how come, the majority of the MSM [except for CNN] doesn't even mention this in today's news ?? And Prez Obama, what are you going to do about 'Corporate-Behaviour' like this ?? How about ELIMINATING all H1B Visas, until the economy recovers ??? That will be the least you can do. Hey Republicans, where the hell is your ''patriotic'' machismo posturing in support of the white-collar workers ??? Oh I forgot, that is only for 'Big Business', I suppose !!!!!!!! -Paul-
Comment 03/27/09: Got RA's yesterday after 14 years of busting my butt. Got a 2 on my pbc last year even after several patent applications. My 'new' manager laid me and another U.S. worker off. I helped with a solution to save our department 500k a year starting this year and the thanks is 'your being laid off , but I'm giving you 60 days in stead of the 45 to find a new position in IBM. But NOBODY in IBM is allowed to 'back fill' any open position, at least not that I was able to find. He also gave me yesterday and today off. The job is IBM's to do with as they will, but they could have handled it better. Like, say we need you to cut another 500k from the budget, you figure out how and you don't lose any U.S. based employees. to make it worse, my wife got laid off by the company she works for as well. NO thanks for all the overtime, just 'your laid off'.. corporate america no longer cares.. I pray we can find jobs at SMALL companies, even if we make a lot less money. -NoLongerAnIBMer-
Comment 03/27/09: 9 yrs 110% utilization always 2+ , worked really hard away from family .. and got R'ed yesterday ..9yrs = 10 mins of call .. good job done get out .They offered me to get the job in some other country .. what a joke ..I am not sure how this works but I was just assigned a project this week for next 8 months and this happened .. My manager said I need to find the dept not the project what a bull***t -black thursday-
Comment 03/27/09: Lee, I watched CNN news regarding IBM job cut, and I want to thank you for your tremendous effort to let our voice heard. -Ruby-
Comment 03/27/09: notified yesterday that I had been designated for permanent layoff because my work had been relocated. this comes a week after we were asked to participate in knowledge transfer with new team members in India -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: The "30 days to find a job" is a joke. What management is not allowed to tell you is that whenever an RA is about to happen, a hiring freeze and transfer freeze is enacted. These stay in effect until after the 30 days is up. So, a manager may have an open job req, budget, headcount - but does not have authority to hire during those 30 days.
There are a small number of people who do get internal job transfers during that time. In every case I know of (and I know a fair number) they have been hired by a management chain they previously worked with, and the VP has been prepared to make the case to HR for the transfer. And believe me, managers, and even VPs, have a very small number of chits they can or are willing to use, these days.

To give you an example. About 5 years ago - when things were much easier than now - we had a resource with a key skill set and valuable industry contacts who was stupidly caught in an RA. We found another 2nd line manager who needed that skill and those contacts, and had headcount and budget. But when that manager put through the personnel transfer, it was rejected ... turned out the person had been transferred to a department that did not exist, and so they could not be transferred out of that department. And then the manager was told to drop it, by the powers-that-be. We've sold nothing since in that industry in that geo. -- True story. --

Advice? 1. Don't waste your time looking inside. Unless you have pictures on someone. 2. If you still want to look - send an email to the manager asking them if they have intent and authority to hire and transfer within the next 30 days. If you don't get an answer (i.e., if you don't get an answer at all) saying "yes, absolutely, please apply" -- see #1. -Band-10-with-sources-
Comment 03/27/09: I was called yesterday right at 11:00 AM MDT (Boulder location) and given the package. I have 19.5 years with IBM, 2 or 2+ performer forever. Funny I just got a new Lenovo laptop earlier this year and a bonus two weeks ago, and then this. Makes me think management doesn't have a logical plan in place. Looking outside for employment in the worst job market since the 30's. Good luck to all who were axed, and good luck to those left to pick up the pieces at IBM. BTW, I was GTS, Div 1E. -Finallyaxed-
Comment 03/27/09: Message to Sam Palmisano - Sam if you really want to get rid of U.S. employee headcount...offer a voluntary retirement package. I guarantee you will immediately have at least a couple thousand takers! -IBMer-Old-Timer-
Comment 03/27/09 I don't wish to give my name but the Division/BU that I work (worked) for GBS Learning & Knowledge in US laid off 20+ people including myself. We are spread out through out the US working from home virtually and not from any particular office. -FedUp-
Comment 03/27/09: I am with Div 07 - GTS. My entire group was outsourced to Brazil not India. Is it possible that IBM is only telling the press about the jobs that went to India and not the ones that went to the other countries. This could be way more than 5000 -Mary-
Comment 03/27/09: I got the call yesterday after yet another long on call weekend and rough week. Finally will be able to smell the roses and enjoy my family. My boss never told me how many weeks I will get for severance and I was a bridge employee from a outsourcing contract. Should he have and as he didn't who should I talk to as now I am stuck wondering. Thanks and sorry to hear so many in same boat as me. -Soon to be Free-
Comment 03/27/09: Wow, I thought Cringley's statement about IBM firing 150,000 US IBMers was a farce two + years ago when he made it..... BUT the numbers now make him right... 2000-4 timeframe IBM had 375,00+/- employees worldwide with approx 235,000+/- in the US... Today IBM has 400,000+/- employees with around 100,000 in the US.... Amazing... There are more IBM employees in India now than in the US... With many, many other third world country's with 10s of thousand more IBMers... Very sad... Reliable sources have targets at 10-20,000 IBMers in the US in corp and sales with all others in "cheap labor" countries "de jour"......-In Shock- Alliance reply: Last year a poster with good information told us that the IBM US population would be 70,000 soon.
Comment 03/27/09: I'm really pissed. Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs are stealing the IBM job cuts issue away from us. How? By using it as an opportunity to berate Obama. This puts Obama on the defensive, and looks like yet another issue that the disorganized Republicans can cling to. Although Obama was elected in part by the fierce campaigning for him by Unions (especially CWA), his judgment is now in question about his remarks that "low-skilled" jobs are being offshored and aren't coming back.. He's either misinformed, or he is being bated by the Right-Wing and Sam Palmisano. (Remember? The right-wing was all Corporate-lackeys-brown-nosing during the Bush administration...) Either way, as IBM employees, we're left out of the discussion.
As someone else pointed out here earlier: Contact ALL the media orgs you can, and let them know that IBM jobs being offshored are NOT "low-skilled" or "low pay". How can between $40,000 and $100,000 be low pay? How can they be "low-skilled"?? Most people affected have college educations beyond 2 years... Rush Limbaugh never said anything good about unions or labor. I challenge the "ditto-heads" to come up with some radio clips of him doing so.... Yeah more than one! Geezuz this pisses me off! -I'mFuming!-
Comment 03/27/09: http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/05/ibm_smacks_down.html?cid=151664537#comment-151664537 - it is pretty interesting going back to Robert Cringely's prediction of mass IBM layoffs in the US back in '07.... and the response by Joanne Collins-Smee and others who claimed it was inaccurate... uh huh. -smeelover-
Comment 03/27/09: I want to thank Lee and Lou Dobbs for finally bringing IBM to mainstream TV viewers! Although they have been doing this for years, it seems that they were always able to escape the bad press which they so rightly deserved. But after last night, I'm sure there are many who now realize that IBM is no better than AIG--millions and millions for the executives, but lay off the small workers and ship their jobs overseas--this after promising most who have at least 20 or 25 years, a nice retirement!!
Well, MY retirement after 25 years is $532 per month.... Being single and without a surviving spouse, I took my cash vested interest of $100K when I left so if I died my kid would have something. But think of it--$100K for twenty-five years, exceptional employee, lots of rewards--I guess that comes out to about $4000 per year plus the measly $532 that we get monthly.

The IBM management is disgusting, and that's putting it mildly. They should be so ashamed. Liars, liars, liars--but I bet they bring up their kids to be 'good citizens.' What a joke! However, I feel good every night because I spend at least a few minutes writing to President Obama and my Congressmen and Senators and the message is simple--DO NOT GIVE IBM ONE CENT OUT OF THE STIMULUS PACKAGE--because if you do, then you'll be looking for a job just like everyone else you are reading about on this board is. Do NOT give these greedy fat pigs one penny!!! -Out in 2005 and happy-
Comment 03/27/09: Well no more waiting and worrying, I was RA'd yesterday. I just made a paypal contribution, dues for each month I have visited the site. Thanks for providing me a place with valuable spot on information where I could commiserate with my peers and gain information as to what was really going on. I suggested the paypal link, I hope it has been helpful. Good luck to all. -StillanIBMer_notforlong- Alliance Reply: Thank you for your support. We are sorry for your job loss. Please tell others that are still there, to organize and do it NOW! Nothing else will work...as you can see.
Comment 03/27/09: Sam, I survived this RA. I hate you and your company that I work for now. No career, no future. Go ahead make my day and RA me next! -dirty_harry-
Comment 03/27/09: I was one of those laid off on February 23rd. Having spent every day since then sending out my resume and looking for an alternative position, it has been dire. I met with a recruiting agency last week who stated that the number of job positions on their books is down 75% on same time last year. As for hoping to find a position within IBM - do not waste your time and do not jeopardize your chance of grabbing the package. -anonymouse-
Comment 03/27/09: Many Canadian IBMers were laid off yesterday. GRs are getting work permits easily in our country. Sam is replacing us to foreign resources without any problem. We should find a way to stop it. We are smart and strong. Let’s discuss how we will do it. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/27/09: Why are we all mad and upset? Is it not amply clear that Palmisano and company only think of themselves, their pockets and the stockholders. He is not only screwing IBM US employees, but think of the larger picture folks. The purchasing power of people in the USA will also go down immediately. Indians and Chinese are lucky as their governments will protect them. As an Indian I can tell you this much, if IBM India even thinks of doing this kind of nonsensical business there, then they better think again. The Indian government will rise up and put a stop to it, something liberals or conservatives,in the USA simply will not do. Blame your leaders not other countries for letting this happen and then blatantly lying to their people. -rajincajin-
Comment 03/27/09: For those of us who are still hanging on by a thread and being used to train our replacements and will be picking up more work from our team mates who are out with severance in hand; what happens if our management is not happy with our inability to handle our current work load and the work left behind for us to pick up? Is there a chance they can get rid of us without offering a severance. The writing is on the wall. We have been losing highly skilled engineers through various resource actions and outright firings - no severance. We have been training our Indian replacements for a few years now. My experience is that 4 out of 5 of them have no experience or simply do not know what they are doing. We all spend more time getting them to do things correctly than we would if we simply did it ourselves. Same old story... -Hanging on by a thread and concerned there won't be any severance left for me-
Comment 03/27/09: On 02/27, I was told that I am being replaced by someone in Brazil and that I would have to train him by the end of March but that I wasn't laid off. My replacement is not all that bright so this has been a challenge! Last week, I was told about a voluntary Bench Program where I could review 'Knowledge Transfer' documentation that will be used by, I assume, our replacements. My participation would even be tracked. Yesterday, I was told that I "have been identified for a permanent layoff", effective 04/27. I wonder how Atticus Finch would have handled this craziness! Best of luck to all those affected. -Tequila_Mockingbird-
Comment 03/27/09: You want to have a little fun? Go to the IBM website and apply for a job. http://www-03.ibm.com/employment/?cm_re=wspace-_-horznav-_-learn Want to be entertained? Look at what they say about working for IBM. Start@IBM. Do something on the website that uses up IBM resources. Apply for a job and they have to review the application. That costs manpower and cycles. Ask a million questions in other areas. Complain about service in others. FLOOD IBM WITH inquiries. Let's see how the people in India respond to an American Flood. I was told I owe less than $200 in overpaid commissions. I am stretching it out before I have to pay IBM back. I want them to do some research that I already know the answer to. I will get more than $200 worth of time from IBM. -Fun-
Comment 03/27/09: Those of you who have been hit in this latest round of layoffs, you have my most sincere sympathies. I’m sure some of those who escaped this time may be thinking that they would never be hit in a layoff; that their job is too important; or that they are too valuable to be let go. Don’t fool yourself. You may work hard and do good work, but to IBM, you are just an expense that is dragging down the profit margin and keeping Sam and his cronies from getting an even bigger bonus next year.
The minute they can find someone to do your job for less in India or some other third world country, you can kiss your job goodbye. Even if the person doesn’t have your skills or expertise, it doesn’t matter. If the work they produce is crap, or is late, IBM will just tell the customer “Oh, well, you know how these complex technical projects go.” Then they will find someone else to clean up the mess. The customer will not be happy, but IBM will still get their money and Sam will still get his bonus. You, on the other hand, will get the boot. It’s just business. And more money for Sam. -Just Business-
Comment 03/28/09: I have a job "for now", as my manager put it. Unfortunately a woman I work with, 25+ years at IBM was laid off, as was her husband, who has 25+ years at IBM. Shareholder value. Thanks Sam! -yikes-
Comment 03/28/09: I was in Austin in S&D, doing technical sales in AIX and LPAR security and I was laid off in Jan. It was completely unexpected, I had gotten a good performance review and had helped close $25Million in business in 2008. I th ink it is terrible what IBM is doing, it is devastating to lose your job in this economy, and among record profits and revenues, it is really reprehensible. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/28/09: Duty Managers got cut. The count is unclear because they work at various locations around the country. Duty Managers that got cut are training their India replacements at the Boulder and Poughkeepsie locations. -Beat Up-
Comment 03/28/09: Some interesting info I picked up doing some research on who was hiring whom, and where. Here's a short list of companies in our industry, and the number of H1-B's they hired in 2008. Microsoft: 4437 IBM: 1413 Hewlett-Packard: 520 Apple Computer: 291.
You tell me - which of these companies has produced the most innovative products over the last decade? By the way - unlike the other three, Apple doesn't offshore their product development - it's all done in Cupertino, Ca. Also, when you call their tech support, you'll reliably get connected with someone who speaks English.So Americans aren't smart enough, or hard-working enough, or innovative enough? Ha! While I managed to dodge the bullet this time, I'm under no illusion that my luck will hold out forever. In the meantime, I'll be working hard getting my certs for supporting Apple products. Do I really want to continue making a living supporting products from companies that have profited by kicking Americans in the crotch at every opportunity? Nope, I'm going to be loyally pushing product from companies who have been loyal to us.When the inevitable occurs, I'm quite literally going to go peddle my Apples elsewhere. ;-) -Anti-American Business Machines-
Comment 03/28/09: I was a permanent IBM employee for the past 2 years, highly educated and over 55. In those 2 years I was made to serve on 6 different teams, all with different products and tools. The learning curve was extremely steep. I served under 4 managers and was loaned out to a 5th during that time too. Met all my assignments on time with quality and learned a wide variety of tools well enough to train my replacements before I was laid off in February for "not knowing the tools as well as the others in your band". Has anyone else had that "musical chairs" experience with team and product assignments, with tools, and with managers? -Exhausted-
Comment 03/28/09: Truly disappointed in hearing / seeing fellow employees being let go for the bottom line.... Being a fellow IBMer for only 5 years through a acquisition, I can honestly say that this is not what I thought IBM would be. I was recently sent a note informing me that the internet expense is to be no more (<$50/month). It is looking like IBM is truly becoming a nickel/dime company and it is becoming apparent that the $9.20 goal is getting a tad hard. What I don't understand or need clarification on is for the people RAed when not being on the bench, what role(s) were you playing during the engagement? Overall architect / direction / implementation / development? -anonymous-
Comment 03/28/09: to -newbee at IBM- you ask if having patents and publications will protect you...the answer is no, nor will your PhD, your awards, your outside contracts, your performance, your leadership responsibilities, your skill set, your role in product programs...nothing. If someone decides to eliminate your job, it is all over. Work your outside network, keep your resume in circulation. Those are your only security. -whacked in January-
Comment 03/28/09: I just had my 10th anniversary on January 26, was consistent 2 performer - worked asset management in Global Services out of the Boulder site from home in Longmont. My job went to Argentina. I hate this company more than I can possibly say. Off topic - Did anyone else catch the statement that "Freedom Tower" in NYC is now going to be called ONE WORLD TOWER? Guess who owns it...the CHINESE..sorrry you already knew that! GO TO HELL SAM -stiletto81-
Comment 03/28/09: Alliance: There was always a gag order on RA-s. It might not have been enforced in the past. Victims were always told not to talk about this matter to anyone else. They didn't want an RA victim to talk to other workers about what happened to them. (and heaven forbid-- the news media!!) As time went on, and the victims piled up. People began to talk about what was happening to them.
Alliance if you are now hearing of this, then IBM must be enforcing their original rules once again. EVeryone else: Take this as a sign we are getting thru to IBM and they don't like it!!!!!!!! To the poor people affected by the RAs, please know that you can still voice your opinion anonymously. write on blogs, come here and vent. Also know, that if you talk to the news, they will keep your identity a secret. It probably wouldn't be smart to get your face on TV, but as long as you are anonymous, keep talking. It's the only way we will draw attention to this matter. IBM is all about FUD - fear, uncertainty and doubt. As long as they can keep everyone in the blue cloud, its in their best interest. We all know, ibm only does what's best for them, so do what's best for you!!! -miss understanding-

Alliance reply: Yes we have heard of this happening before. In fact we remember IBM telling workers they couldn't even say "offshoring"! We hope to get this up front and into the media again. Webmaster edit: Here's the email link to the MSNBC show Count Down. Try this.
Comment 03/28/09: In all correspondence to press, legislators, use 10,000 - that's a conservative estimate based on 4600/Jan and 5000/March. It's up to IBM to provide exact numbers. However, they have chosen silence. It is also important to emphasize that these layoffs are NOT in the same category as Circuit City or any of the other large corporate layoffs. IBM is making huge profits, bringing in $1B/month, huge cash reserves to spend billions on Sun -- and most importantly for the SOLE purpose of moving these American salaries offshore to hire BRIC workers. -10@endicottalliance.org-
Comment 03/28/09: It is very clear that IBM is laying-off skilled and talented US employees and either (1) transitioning the jobs to less skilled and less talented Indian or 3rd world countries, or (2) bringing landed less skilled and less talented Indian or 3rd world country resources to the US temporarily. I worked on several projects with Indian resources. It is true they are cheaper mainly due to their massive population and the lack of resources we take for granted in this country (i.e., fresh water, sewage removal, 24 hour utilities, etc). However, it has been my experience that although they are cheaper they take many more hours to complete their tasks at the same level of quality as in the US. So instead of paying a consultant $200 per hour for 10 hours of work in the US, you end up paying $50 per hour for 40 hours. The bottom line is that the total cost is the same. IBM is skilled at selling this con game / ponzi scheme to both their clients and the US Government. They won’t change until their clients and the US Government understand the details of how they are being fleeced; and unfortunately more skilled and talented US employees will suffer. -3rd World Hand Holder-
Comment 03/28/09: I just found out that someone who has very current and highly in demand skills got RA'd. This person is not only very skilled in the latest technologies; he is very good at applying those skills. On top of that he is a Certified IT Architect. I thought IBM was placing high value on certified architects? -Dazed and Confused-
Comment 03/28/09: Medical will still be covered at the same rate once you switch to COBRA for the initial 3/6/12 month period. You will be paying full price for vision and dental. Schedule any needed dentist appointments and eye exams so vision and dental can be dropped. -Feb09RA-
Comment 03/28/09: The way to fight evil, no-caring, robot making IBM is with potential customers. Let potential customers know that IBM does not deserve their business -- mediocre products and services. The technical folks at many customers hate IBM and for a good reason. The reason IBM can sell is because of the sales force coziness with clients upper management. How many times in a customer meeting you will see 5 sales people and one technical resource!!!! -abc-
Comment 03/28/09: Heads up. A buddy still at IBM says a whole new division is being set up to go after Stimulus. Someone who still has access to Blue Pages - search on job responsibility for Economic Stimulus. Copy and send to Alliance. AND DO IT NOW. Soon as IBM sees this, they'll take it down. He said they already blocked Alliance from some site locations (looks like they learned a few things from their Chinese counterparts). If I see another "I'm an IBMer or Smart planet commercial I'll throw up. Subtitle should read "Gimme Stimulus" -laid off 2008 -only a taxpayer now-
Comment 03/28/09: Division 7. Two work at home employees were given 30 days to find new employment. Not too good of prospects considering nobody is hiring except for Iowa, or the BRIC. Insult is added to injury in these job cuts with the wall of silence that IBM puts up. It's only through scuttlebutt that things get out. The one manager who actually has some idea what's going on and thinks IBM is completely out of line told us that we will never see an announcement of their leaving. They will just sort of disappear one day. Way to go IBM. -A little too close to home-
Comment 03/28/09: For those recently RA'd, keep in mind that President Obama and his team are not aware of the high-level, professional positions held by MBA, PhD's, scientists, engineers and others who are being laid off and jobs shipped to India. What Pres Obama said during this town hall meeting this week is just what corporate America has told the American public and forced down the throats of Congress. What needs to be done is take this opportunity to make sure President Obama and his team understand that IBM is pulling the wool over everyone's eyes with the current outsourcing of jobs. The climate is right for making your case heard and the American people are finally starting to wake up to what IBM and other corporations have been doing over the years.
President Bush let corporations do what they wanted because he wanted the "free market" to prevail. Now that the "free market" has run amuck and derailed the dreams of millions of Americans, it's time to get back on track to make sure Americans are getting the same priority as India and China. President Obama seems more open to dealing with this outsourcing nonsense than his predecessor. Contact your Congressman and get their attention.

For those of you still left in IBM, you need to get on board with the Alliance and give them the voice to act of your behalf. IBM told new managers years ago that Lee Conrad and the Alliance were to be ignored because a union wasn't needed within IBM. Now, with the constant layoffs and outsourcing, rank and file employees have no voice outside of the Alliance. I was RA'd in 2006 just 2 weeks after turning 50. If you don't think age discrimination is not part of the decision to lay people off, think again. It's not a performance issue. Wake up and come to your senses. And if you think it won't happen to you, you've got your head in the sand. -Been There-
Comment 03/28/09: I watch in dismay, as the once strong IBM slowly kills itself. I was RA'd in 07 PBC2+ 1 the year before, top skills, but over 40 years old. IBM has been driving out all of the top tiered talent since 2002. After the tech crash, the company put the screws on everyone. The sole focus is tactical moves to move the stock prices higher. I may sound biased or racial, but all of the countries that IBM has / is reducing headcount in are tops in Engineering, Innovation and over all talent. Our markets are the primary revenue for IBM, yet its soiling its own nest. I can tell you for a fact, that I would never recommend IBm as a solution provider. It's not sour grapes, its due to the fact that within the past 5 or so years, we have gone from being solely focused on a good customer sat, to a position where we rely on lawyers to fight SLA misses.
All of the folks that have been screwed... and I mean that term wholeheartedly, will remember our treatment when we take on new roles. A good friend of mine just recently kiboshed a outsourcing deal with the company he joined. IBM is biting the hand that feeds them.. plain and simple.

For those of you that have been hit, DONT TAKE IT PERSONALLY...Your an IBM'er and still valued in the job market. The reputation is still not too bad out there, but its declining fast.

When I was interviewing.. I actually had folks state that they were sorry I worked there... called it a body shop as well as a sweat shop. Hold you head proud... your journey is just beginning. Get your resume updated, focus on core skills. If you had a hobby that you were interested in, see of you can develop it into a new career. Be forewarned that the IT market is tougher, but there are jobs. The recent economic crisis and the massive influx of H1B's and L1's has driven down the wages. Hate to be honest, but I need to be truthful. That doesn't mean you will take a pay cut.. there are some decent gigs out there. IBM was stagnant on their wages for a while, so you may end up with more money. Best wishes everyone...remember what sam has done to you when you get IBm knocking on your door at the new position. -sore sphincter-
Comment 03/28/09: IBM will keep offshoring and cutting US jobs until there none left except executives and their staffs. One recourse you have if training your replacements is to do a poor job of it. It's not like IBM is giving you enough time to train them or giving you the brightest and best to train. For offshored work, allow the natural consequences of poor training, hiring GRs with inadequate skills and experience, and high turnover occur. Absolutely do not prevent their failures. Let them fail miserably regardless of the impact on the customer. Last, do not work more than 10% overtime to compensate for resource cuts made in your organization. The cuts will continue until major failures occur that management can't hide. This is not sabotage - this just letting the failures occur due to poor executive management decisions. Major failures that cause revenue loss are the only way to get IBM execs to wake up. Screw them before they screw you. -Blue Valkyrie-
Comment 03/28/09: SAMMY hope you see this: Save the young IBMer's jobs. Most are just starting out (kids, cars, house, etc). Do the right thing by offering "Voluntary Retirement Packages" to the retirement ready old time IBMers like myself. I have over 30 years and am tired of the BS and ready to go! However, due to the small pension I will receive (after 30 years of hard work), I am not leaving without a package. -Another-Oldtime-IBMer-
Comment 03/28/09: To those offering advice on the package, when to sign, not sign, what happens if... I had mine from Jan reviewed by a lawyer. You can sign it whenever. It does not help you to sign it right away. If you do not sign it, you do not get your severance. It says you *should* wait 45 days. This, in essence, relieves IBM from you claiming you had to do it under duress or mental anguish. For me, I signed it at my exit interview, and got my severance check, my last pay check, and on March 13, my GDP. I can also only speak for the separation letter I got, but my lawyer said that it was one of the easiest and reasonable ones he'd seen - pretty non restrictive and simple, all things considered. Remember, those were MY experiences. YMMV. My advice? You have a friend who's a lawyer? Have them go over it for you. It's only a few pages... Or shell out a few bucks for peace of mind. -RAed in Jan/Feb-
Comment 03/28/09: I was RA'd in Feb, and not surprised with the layoffs. More will come as IBM tries to compete against smaller consulting shops that will undercut IBM's pricing for the next year. Obviously, this economy kills growth. Here are some thoughts on leaving: 1. Join the IBM Alliance, and keep the grassroots effort going. It is too late for the RA'd people but not too late for our peers. 2. IBM shot itself twice. By cutting skilled workers and consultants, they only prove to the "Street" that innovation and intellectual capital is going out the door with them. When skilled workers leave, they go over to places like WiPro that fish for IBM intellectual assets and clients. (Check out the Wall Street Journal this week for a brief discussion). 3. If you got a proxy notice in the mail for IBM's stockholder meeting, dump everyone. It is time for a change. Like past history from the Bush Administration, my 10 yr. daughter could make a better impact on workers than the managers and HR clowns at IBM. Good luck to all those that were laid off. If you plan ahead, you can even leave IBM on your own terms with a bump in salary and work for the competition. I did... -SpookySteveo-
Comment 03/28/09: I was laid off from IBM a few days ago. My boss called me and said I was part of resource action. He told me not to say any thing and listen. They don't want you to get a job within IBM after you are part of a resource action. I was IBM for 10 years and the past 2 years I spent training employees at India. They said I could get my job back if I went to India. They way they handled it was very unprofessional. It's going to continue, they laid off several members of my team. There are more people that will be cut from global -Ricardo-
Comment 03/28/09: So Sam Greaseyourpalmo lied to President Obama on his recent trip to the white house. He told the president he was doing everything in his power to keep/create jobs in the U.S. -IBM relative-
Comment 03/28/09: I am answering an earlier question about COBRA. After the initial 6 months for me the Medical for a family of 3 would be around $1272/month, but here is the good news, because of Pres. Obama stimulus bill signed last month, we are only responsible for 35% of the $1272, which comes to around $445/month, which in turn is around $100 more than my current Medical premium. Quick word on the dental, no discount there and will rise $50 for me starting April 27. Hope this Helps. The layoff sucks, but at least you feel one has the medical/dental for total of 18 months. Also, I called the unemployment office yesterday and you can start getting unemployment benefits right away(not counting the first week), so chance for double dip for six months in my case. Good luck To All. -Mr Helpful-
Comment 03/28/09: As far as I know I'm still employed. But I'm extremely nervous. I agree that people who are let go, will become the decision makers who determine whether to do business with IBM at IBM prospective customer sites. I agree that they should avoid IBM. But I also know that such actions will force IBM to layoff more American employees. Best I can hope for is a regime change at the top of IBM and they hire many people back. I do great work, but with my management changing every couple months, they don't know what I did in the prior months. The direction changes and I find myself feeling like a new hire all over again. No real hands on training for the people who are working for a successful company.
I'm glad IBM doesn't do surgery - I'd hate to have people doing something so critical who haven't kept up to date. Sure, they may have the education and the degree, but their practicing on real people and real systems. I want to join the union, but I fear the money I have in my account may be needed to stretch out food for my family for a couple years. Actually, we would die after just a few months. Raises haven't kept up with cost of living so I find my money thrown at things that break and my grocery shopping has been for necessities only. The new political administration would probably think I was wealthy though - but unlike them, I've paid my taxes. -Nervous and Anonymous-
Comment 03/29/09: RA'ed on 1/23, signed my separation agreement on Monday 3/23, today I received a package containing a 200 page document "About Your Benefits: Post_Employment, Summary Plan Description." The really weird thing is the cover letter starts: "Dear IBM Retiree: We want to congratulate you on your retirement and thank you for the many years of service given to IBM." WTF? I didn't know I retired, I thought I was f*****g canned! -anotherExSVLer-
Comment 03/29/09: IBM is targeting older workers. This is the only way IBM can get access to the pension fund. I left on my own after 30 years and I have no regrets. I think back on my years very fondly. i worked with high quality peers with various lengths of service. The odds that such a very high percent of the people I know impacted by recent cuts are on the old pension plan seem very lvery ow. This is about moving job to india and getting access to billions. After 30 years, I never thought I would think that maybe a union is not a bad idea. -Anonymous-
Comment 03/29/09: I have heard that IBM had to file a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice in RTP last Friday, and that the affected workers got 60 rather than 30 days. I got my notice last Thursday -- which was for 30 days -- although my location is RTP. Any advice about this? -Raleigh employee-

General Visitor's Comment page
- Comment 3/27/09: Why should a $100,000,000,000+ corporation in 2008 qualify for any stimulus money? Like IBM needs a bailout or help. Hey IBM, why don't you pony up some $$$ to the USA economy since you are "supposedly" and American-based company (Armonk,NY is the USA)? -anonymous-
Pension Comments page
Raise and Salary Comments
- Comment 03/25/09: Salary = 60k; Band Level = 6; Job Title = IT Specialist; Years Service = 3; Hours/Week = 40; Div Name = 16; Location = Fairfax; Message = GDP this year sucks. -Null-
- Comment 03/26/09: Salary = 95000; Band Level = 07; Job Title = Software Engineer; Years Service = 1; Hours/Week = 50; Div Name = 00; Location = Rochester; Message = just surfing -Janie-
- Comment 03/26/09: Janie, $95K for a band 07 in Rochester? C'mon! -reality_chk-
PBC Comments
- Comment 3/24/09: Band Level = 7; Years Service = 5; Prior Yr PBC = 2+; This Yr PBC = 1; This Yr Bonus = 2400; Prior Yr Bonus = 3700; Message = Toronto; Tech Sup -Another Canadian-
- Comment 3/26/09: Was a PBC "2+" for last three years running and got RA'ed today. To make it even more harsh I had to be reminded today by manager after the terse "an RA is being done in our dept. and you were selected for RA" that I need to get my PBC done ASAP. I guess they will hold up my severance if I don't submit it. PBC are worthless. They mean nothing. Why should I waste time on my PBC now? -RAwhacked-
- Comment 3/29/09: IBM is the worst company I have ever worked with. It is very political and PBC is also based on the relationship. The only way you can survive in IBM, just keep buttering the partner. -Anonymous-
International Comments

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

New York Times: Going Abroad to Find Affordable Health Care. By Walecia Konrad. Excerpts: When Ben Schreiner, a 62-year-old retired Bank of America executive, found out last year he would need surgery for a double hernia, he started evaluating possible doctors and hospitals. But he didn’t look into the medical center in his hometown, Camden, S.C., or the bigger hospitals in nearby Columbia. Instead, his search led him to consider surgery in such far-flung places as Ireland, Thailand and Turkey. ...
Mr. Schreiner is what’s known in the health care world as a “medical tourist.” No longer covered under his former employer’s insurance and too young to qualify for Medicare, Mr. Schreiner has a private health insurance policy with a steep $10,000 deductible. Not wanting to spend all of that on the $14,000 his operation would have cost stateside, he paid only $3,900 in hospital and doctor’s bills in Costa Rica. ...

At the moment, however, the bulk of medical tourism candidates are uninsured and underinsured people paying their own bills and looking for low-cost alternatives to American care. Medical tourism advocates argue that the quality of care overseas is often equal to or better than that in the United States. Many countries have high success rates, American-trained English-speaking doctors and the newest facilities, often built specifically to attract foreign patients.
New York Times: A Tumor at the Heart of Medicare. By Mark Lange. Excerpts: Generating efficiency in the health-care market will be one of President Obama’s greatest challenges. To do this, he will have to create meaningful competition between drug companies, and between public and private plans. Congress’s attempt at market-driven health care offers good instruction in what not to do. ...
Medicare Part D, the prescription benefit that went into effect three years ago, was supposed to let the elderly get their medicines more cheaply by creating competition between private insurers. Yes, the program has undeniably improved access to prescriptions. But the cost to taxpayers has been 3.5 times the market value of those prescriptions, according to a study in the journal Health Affairs.

Part of the problem was that insurance analysts saw a chance to double the size of the managed care industry. Drug companies stood to collect $30 billion in windfalls over the coming decade. So legislation was pushed, paid for and effectively drafted by thousands of lobbyists. Proposals requiring the government to use the buying power of 40 million Medicare patients to negotiate prescription prices were defeated. Pharmaceutical lobbyists fought for direct federal subsidy of drug benefits, knowing plans would be reimbursed no matter how much prices were inflated. Lobbyists also prevented identical but less expensive drugs from Canada and other countries from coming here. After arm-twisting that reduced at least one member of the House of Representatives to tears, the bill to expand Medicare passed at 5:53 a.m. on a November morning in 2003.

When the program went live in 2006, a fragmented market of 80 insurers — with 1,400 prescription drug plans — lacked the purchasing power to negotiate drug prices. Nor did those insurers have much reason to bargain, since Part D subsidized the most costly patients at 80 percent. So prices under Medicare private insurance plans for the top 10 medications shot up, and in 2006 the five largest drug firms notched a 45 percent spike in profits over the previous year. After insurers rushed to sign as many retirees as possible at attractive rates, they raised premiums 13 percent. Medicare patients in private plans cost taxpayers about 15 percent more than those covered under traditional government programs. ...

This year, total Medicare and Medicaid spending will probably account for nearly a quarter of all federal spending, and by 2016 it could rise to almost a third. Enlisting real competition will be crucial to containing costs. So before offering a new universal benefit for the millions of Americans who lack health insurance, Congress should put an end to manipulative profiteering in Medicare. As challenging as the program’s problems may be, they do not prove that a market-based approach can’t work.
Associated Press, courtesy of The Detroit News: Workers bear brunt of woes in health care 6M more uninsured than in mid-'90s, report says, yet they pay bill to cover the poor, elderly. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. Excerpts: American workers -- whose taxes pay for massive government health programs -- are getting squeezed like no other group by the nation's health insurance woes. While just about all retirees are covered, and nearly 90 percent of children have health insurance, workers now are at significantly higher risk of being uninsured than in the 1990s, the last time lawmakers attempted a health care overhaul, according to a study to be released today. The study for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that nearly 1 in 5 workers is uninsured, a statistically significant increase from fewer than 1 in 7 during the mid-1990s. ...
About 20.7 million workers were uninsured in the mid-1990s. A decade later, it was 26.9 million, an increase of about 6 million, the study found. In the 1990s, there were eight states with 20 percent or more of the working-age population uninsured. Now there are 14: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas.
Health Care Voices: The uninsured problem isn’t as bad as you thought - it’s worse. By Bill Salganik. Excerpts: The most-often-used measure of how many Americans are uninsured comes from the Census Bureau's annual survey. The most recent Census report concluded that 45.7 million Americans were uninsured - a huge number, representing nearly one American in six. Now, however, a new study by the consumer advocacy group Families USA shows that the problem is actually twice as big.
The Census survey counts people as uninsured if they were without health coverage for the whole calendar year. But many people are uninsured for several months, although not the whole year. Someone might even be uninsured from, say, March, 2007 to October, 2008, or a year and a half - but wouldn't count as uninsured in the Census numbers for either 2007 or 2008, since they had coverage for part of each year.

If you counted everyone who was without coverage for a month or more over 2007 and 2008, you'd get 86.7 million - or one American in three, according to the Families USA study, which draws on the same Census survey and two other federal government data sets. Of those, three-quarters went without coverage for six months or more. ...

There are so many uninsured, the report said, because "job-based health insurance is becoming increasingly scarce" as employers cut back, because rising premiums mean "more and more working families are being priced out of job-based insurance" and because safety-net programs don't cover all the people who need coverage.
New York Times: A Health Plan for All and the Concerns It Raises. By Reed Abelson. Excerpts: It is one of the most contentious health care proposals President Obama has floated: offer a federal, Medicare-like insurance plan to anyone, at any age. And let commercial insurers offer their private health plans alongside it. “It gives consumers more choices, and it helps keep the private sector honest, because there’s some competition out there,” Mr. Obama said this month at a health care forum in Washington.
But the insurance industry and others wary of too much government intervention vehemently oppose the idea. They say the heavy hand of the government will eventually push out the private insurers, leaving the government option as the only option. That is why the industry seems unwilling to give ground on the issue, even while making other concessions to national health reform — like the industry’s announcement on Tuesday that it might be willing to stop charging sick people higher rates than healthy customers. ...

But supporters of a public plan say that its low price would impose greater discipline on insurers by forcing them to keep costs in check and make their policies affordable — something they say commercial insurers have seemed especially unable to do in providing coverage to small businesses and individuals. “It would transform the market for private insurance,” said Karen Davis, the president of the Commonwealth Fund, a health policy research group. She estimates the average premium for a family of four would run around $9,000 a year under a public plan, in contrast to nearly $11,000 for a typical private alternative. The savings to the nation’s health care bill over the next decade could run into the trillions of dollars, she said.

News and Opinion Concerning the U.S. Financial Crisis

"It is a restatement of laissez-faire-let things take their natural course without government interference. If people manage to become prosperous, good. If they starve, or have no place to live, or no money to pay medical bills, they have only themselves to blame; it is not the responsibility of society. We mustn't make people dependent on government- it is bad for them, the argument goes. Better hunger than dependency, better sickness than dependency."

"But dependency on government has never been bad for the rich. The pretense of the laissez-faire people is that only the poor are dependent on government, while the rich take care of themselves. This argument manages to ignore all of modern history, which shows a consistent record of laissez-faire for the poor, but enormous government intervention for the rich." From Economic Justice: The American Class System, from the book Declarations of Independence by Howard Zinn.

New York Times: Administration Seeks Increase in Oversight of Executive Pay. By Stephen Labaton. Excerpt: Officials said the proposal would seek a broad new role for the Federal Reserve to oversee large companies, including major hedge funds, whose problems could pose risks to the entire financial system. It will propose that many kinds of derivatives and other exotic financial instruments that contributed to the crisis be traded on exchanges or through clearinghouses so they are more transparent and can be more tightly regulated. And to protect consumers, it will call for federal standards for mortgage lenders beyond what the Federal Reserve adopted last year, as well as more aggressive enforcement of the mortgage rules.
BuzzFlash: Tim Geithner, Barack Obama: Why are the Arsonists Who Started the Wall Street Fire Being Paid Premium Dollars to "Put it Out"? Excerpts: The populist and "Krugman" progressive wing revolt against the Obama Administration's coddling of Wall Street firms and individuals that broke the back of the American economy is simple: Why are the very people who crashed the economy to the tune of a couple trillion dollars or more being championed as the only people who can fix it? This belies common sense, and the uproar on America's Main Street represents not so much a pitchfork rebellion as the eruption of just plain, straightforward common sense.
President Obama and others have asked that we act responsibly and reward those who work hard and achieve success. But that rule appears to have been turned on its head as far as the oligarchy on Wall Street. What the White House doesn't appear to understand is that you can't have one standard for 99% of America -- sacrifice, work hard, do your job right -- and another for the "Masters of the Universe" who run our financial system -- be greedy, screw up, and receive millions of dollars in "compensation" from the taxpayers. ...

...on Wall Street -- and the oligarchy -- a different standard applies: wreck our economic system to the brink of a total implosion out of greed, and not only will we keep you in your job, we will make the case (i.e., the White House and Geithner) that your "expertise" is essential to saving our economic system from disaster, although you are the ones that created the catastrophe.
Jim Hightower: The Sanctity of Corporate Contracts. Excerpts: You know what really gets my goat about AIG shelling out 165 million of our tax dollars to the top executives of the very same division that destroyed the company? EVERYTHING, that’s what!! The arrogance, the greed, the secrecy, the lies, the elitism, the thievery, the weaseling, the numbskullduggery, the inconceivable nincompoopery! Skunk farms don’t stink as bad as this scandal.
But one particular aspect of it hasn’t received enough attention, and it really rubs me raw. It’s the rationalization that was made by AIG’s CEO, and then docilely accepted as truth by Obama’s top economic team. Their claim is that, since the bonuses were part of the employment contracts of the executives, everyone must now bow down and meekly pay up. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says he’ll prevent future AIG bonuses, but, alas, he shrugged, the sanctity of the existing contracts must be honored. “It would be legally difficult to prevent these contractually mandated payments,” he whimpered.

Come on, there are amoebas with more backbone than this! There is nothing sacred about a corporate contract – just ask union members and other workers. CEOs routinely abrogate legal contracts on wages, health care, and pensions for working folks. In fact, just last December, Washington demanded that car companies simply tear up their contracts with the United Auto Workers. Yet, suddenly we’re to believe that AIG’s contracts with these rich, incompetent investment bankers are so sacrosanct that even the President of the United States must stand impotently aside while they rob our public treasury?

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. Some sample posts follow:

"Here is the deal" by "CapOneApplicant". Full excerpt: have had quite a few conversations around this. The RIFs are coming. They have to be completed by 3/31. Expect a carnage in GBS this Thursday. Here are some directional numbers:
- 1 in 3 Partners/AP
- 1 in 5 Band 9
- 1 in 8 Band 8
A total of over 4,000 folks being let go. Here are the groups that will be hit hard:
- IGA
- AMS
- CRM
- SCM
The one group that may not be hit hard will be the BI group within CRM. They have a solid pipeline.
"Another month, another 4-5K cut" by "Frank_Reality". Full excerpt: Some parts of GTS and SO are also being cut now. That's the grand strategy - 4-5K RAs per month from some organization in the US until year end 2012 when US workforce will be down to 35,000. It's death march for US employees.
"What did you expect?" by "omegadoom". Full excerpt: IBM is competing on cost when it comes to GTS. Its their only value proposition. So you cut your expensive US workforce and you offshore work that can get offshored to India, Brazil, etc ... with H1B or other onshore programs to bring in the lower skilled and cheaper labor. At the same time, it looks like they are cleaning house at the top. I mean, can a band 8 do the same job as a band 9 or band 10 consultant? Sure its less experience and less cost, but there are still going to be a smaller number of senior people who can go in and clean up any potential mess, right? ;-) Sorry, but the IT industry is way out of whack. When the shit hits the fan, the big boys will have retired and laughing all the way to the bank. BTW, IBM is reporting that the bulk of their income comes from outside of the US. Ok, so does that mean when a client outsources and offshores a project to India, does IBM US or IBM India get the revenue rec?
"Most if not all Execs Safe" by "Tweetie_Bird". Full excerpt: Not many, if any at all affected. In GTS it appears to be only troops in the trenches. Interestingly enough, they RA'ed many on active engagements and billing. When a PM of an engagement where 20% of the billing resources where RA'ed today complained, she was told to go to the bench and use the political minions who survived. She has refused and is hiring contractors instead. Cheaper, more dependable and competent than what's left on the bench in GBS and GTS. Let's see how long she lasts....doing the right thing for the customer is deadly around here at IBM.
"It may not be politico minions..." by "omegadoom". Full excerpt: It could be that the project was staffed with higher bands and management wants to replace them with lower banded individuals. Lower band, lower salary, better margins. After all, how many clients know the band level of their consultants? To the client, they all look alike ... ;-)
"Oh No, it's Political Minions" by "Tweetie_Bird". Full excerpt: The RDM and HR types were "suggesting" to the PM that the laid off Band 6, 7 and 8's could be better for the "GBS Team" if replaced with a "great set" Band 8's and 9's and even one 10 on the bench. Yeah, they don't look different, but a buffoon that claims to know everything and is allegedly connected to all sorts of IBM VP's but does nothing but try to place the work on others and act like an expert in technology even though being a Strategy and Change consultant is a buffoon nonetheless!
"Only one SWG Exec got hit" by "Tweetie_Bird". Full excerpt: and he was wanting to leave anyway
"Huh?" by "omegadoom". Full excerpt: Can you be more specific? I know of the exec who got caught up in the Jan/Feb RIF but heard he was extended. Do you know which pillar this exec was in?
"Re booking the revenue" by "Frank_Reality". Full excerpt: I'm sure IBM records the non-US revenue in whatever way minimizes taxes. The only way for the incessant cuts in US staff is for major fuckups to occur due to offshore delivery that causes either major embarrassment in the press, or major revenue loss.
On many accounts and the internal account, US staff is preventing these failures from occurring. They need to allow the GR failures to occur regardless of impact to the clients and their business. IBM must be allowed to suffer the consequences of the shortsighted, "cut costs regardless of the impact" decisions the executives have made. Failure must be an option.
"Offshore failures" by "dilbertlives". Full excerpt: I once had the tremendous pleasure of being project manager on a short term toxic project bestowed on me.
As if the horrifically language challenged H1-B resources were not enough, we had several offshore development resources. Not only were the time differences impossible to work with, these people were so utterly clueless about business process and even technology fundamentals such as UNIT testing reports that every single thing they sent us was utter garbage. I ended up spending countless hours on the phone (calling india on the client's time)/ email/ testing reports (yes as the PM) that the true cost of these offshore resources was nowhere near what was reported. When the client PM asked what I thought worked/ didn't work on the project, I told him he should ask for a true accounting of offshore efforts, not just the time they spend coding, but all the cleaning up of their S&IT afterwards. Would be very interesting.

Partners/associate partners who sell the projects would never tell the truth about true costs.

If I were in a client position, I would NEVER accept the offshoring model, knowing what truly goes on.

It goes so far beyond the shortsightedness of money grubbing executive decisions. As in many instances in the pig and other firms, they sell the shit projects and don't have to deal with the fallout. What ever happened to the concept of leading from the front? No wonder we can't as Americans win any wars, as a culture (business, professionally, personally) we just create crappy situations and let other people deal with the, ahem, opportunities we leave in their wakes.
"the new IBM" by "legacy_C&L _STT". Full excerpt: Since I was part of the recent RA it's obvious now that the "I" in IBM stands for India. It is truly a shame that so many skilled and experienced resources were canned. As is the case with most major companies the focus is on low cost rather than quality...IBM just shot itself in the foot big time. I will be glad to take the severance money and run, it's been a good ride up to now.

If you hire good people and treat them well, they will try to do a good job. They will stimulate one another by their vigor and example. They will set a fast pace for themselves. Then if they are well led and occasionally inspired, if they understand what the company is trying to do and know they will share in its sucess, they will contribute in a major way. The customer will get the superior service he is looking for. The result is profit to customers, employees, and to stcckholders. —Thomas J. Watson, Jr., from A Business and Its Beliefs: The Ideas That Helped Build IBM.

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Welcome to IBM Employee News and Links

“News and links for IBM employees, retirees, ex-employees, and persons interested in pension, retirement, off-shoring and corporate governance issues”—The news you won't see on W3!

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