Welcome to IBM Employee News and Links

Our Friends:

Alliance@IBM Rocky Mountain Action Coalition U.K IBM Members

Quick Links:

Get involved! Insider trading After IBM Lenovo Employee Discount

Previous highlights:

January 28, 2012 January 21, 2012 January 7, 2012 December 31, 2011 December 24, 2011 December 17, 2011 December 10, 2011 December 3, 2011 November 26, 2011 November 19, 2011 November 12, 2011 November 5, 2011 October 29, 2011 October 22, 2011 October 15, 2011 October 8, 2011 October 1, 2011 September 24, 2011 September 17, 2011 September 10, 2011 September 3, 2011 August 27, 2011 August 20, 2011 August 13, 2011 August 6, 2011 July 30, 2011 July 23, 2011 July 16, 2011 July 9, 2011 July 2, 2011 June 25, 2011 June 18, 2011 June 11, 2011 June 4, 2011 May 28, 2011 May 21, 2011 May 14, 2011 May 7, 2011 April 30, 2011 April 23, 2011 April 16, 2011 April 9, 2011 April 2, 2011 March 26, 2011 March 19, 2011 March 12, 2011 March 5, 2011 February 26, 2011 February 19, 2011 February 12, 2011 February 5, 2011 January 29, 2011 January 22, 2011 January 15, 2011 January 8, 2011 January 1, 2011 December 25, 2010 December 18, 2010 December 11, 2010 December 4, 2010 November 27, 2010 November 20, 2010 November 13, 2010 November 6, 2010 October 30, 2010 October 23, 2010 October 16, 2010 October 9, 2010 October 2, 2010 September 25, 2010 September 18, 2010 September 11, 2010 September 4, 2010 August 28, 2010 August 21, 2010 August 14, 2010 August 7, 2010 July 31, 2010 July 24, 2010 July 17, 2010 July 10, 2010 July 3, 2010 June 26, 2010 June 19, 2010 June 12, 2010 June 5, 2010 May 29, 2010 May 22, 2010 May 15, 2010 May 8, 2010 May 1, 2010 April 24, 2010 April 17, 2010 April 10, 2010 April 3, 2010 March 27, 2010 March 20, 2010 March 13, 2010 March 6, 2010 February 27, 2010 February 20, 2010 February 13, 2010 February 6, 2010 January 30, 2010 January 23, 2010 January 16, 2010 January 9, 2010 January 2, 2010 December 26, 2009 December 19, 2009 December 12, 2009 December 5, 2009 November 28, 2009 November 21, 2009 November 14, 2009 November 7, 2009 October 31, 2009 October 24, 2009 October 17, 2009 October 10, 2009 October 3, 2009 September 26, 2009 September 19, 2009 September 12, 2009 September 5, 2009 August 29, 2009 August 22, 2009 August 15, 2009 August 8, 2009 August 1, 2009 July 25, 2009 July 18, 2009 July 11, 2009 July 4, 2009 June 27, 2009 June 20, 2009 June 13, 2009 June 6, 2009 May 30, 2009 May 23, 2009 May 16, 2009 May 9, 2009 May 2, 2009 April 25, 2009 April 18, 2009 April 11, 2009 April 4, 2009 March 28, 2009 March 21, 2009 March 14, 2009 March 7, 2009 February 28, 2009 February 21, 2009 February 14, 2009 February 7, 2009 January 31, 2009 January 24, 2009 January 17, 2009 January 10, 2009 January 03, 2009 December 27, 2008 December 20, 2008 December 13, 2008 December 6, 2008 November 29, 2008 November 22, 2008 November 15, 2008 November 8, 2008 November 1, 2008 October 25, 2008 October 18, 2008 October 11, 2008 October 4, 2008 September 27, 2008 September 20, 2008 September 13, 2008 September 6, 2008 August 30, 2008 August 23, 2008 August 16, 2008 August 9, 2008 August 2, 2008 July 26, 2008 July 19, 2008 July 12, 2008 July 5, 2008 June 28, 2008 June 21, 2008 June 14, 2008 June 7, 2008 May 31, 2008 May 24, 2008 May 17, 2008 May 10, 2008 2008 Stock Meeting April 26, 2008 April 19, 2008 April 12, 2008 April 5, 2008 March 29, 2008 March 22, 2008 March 15, 2008 March 8, 2008 March 1, 2008 February 16, 2008 February 9, 2008 February 2, 2008 January 26, 2008 January 19, 2008 January 12, 2008 January 5, 2008 December 29, 2007 December 22, 2007 December 15, 2007 December 8, 2007 December 1, 2007 November 24, 2007 November 17, 2007 November 10, 2007 November 3, 2007 October 27, 2007 October 20, 2007 October 13, 2007 October 6, 2007 September 29, 2007 September 22, 2007 September 15, 2007 September 8, 2007 September 1, 2007 August 25, 2007 August 18, 2007 August 11, 2007 August 4, 2007 July 28, 2007 July 21, 2007 July 14, 2007 July 7, 2007 June 30, 2007 June 23, 2007 June 16, 2007 June 9, 2007 June 2, 2007 May 26, 2007 May 19, 2007 May 12, 2007 May 5, 2007 2007 Stock Meeting April 21, 2007 April 14, 2007 April 7, 2007 March 31, 2007 March 24, 2007 March 17, 2007 March 10, 2007 March 3, 2007 February 24, 2007 February 17, 2007 February 10, 2007 February 3, 2007 January 27, 2007 January 20, 2007 January 13, 2007 January 6, 2007 December 30, 2006 December 23, 2006 December 16, 2006 December 9, 2006 December 2, 2006 November 25, 2006 November 18, 2006 November 11, 2006 November 4, 2006 October 28, 2006 October 21, 2006 October 14, 2006 October 7, 2006 September 30, 2006 September 23, 2006 September 16, 2006 September 9, 2006 September 2, 2006 August 26, 2006 August 19, 2006 August 12, 2006 August 5, 2006 July 29, 2006 July 22, 2006 July 15, 2006 July 8, 2006 July 1, 2006 June 24, 2006 June 17, 2006 June 10, 2006 June 3, 2006 May 27, 2006 May 20, 2006 May 13, 2006 May 6, 2006 2006 Stock Meeting April 22, 2006 April 15, 2006 April 8, 2006 April 1, 2006 March 25, 2006 March 18, 2006 March 11, 2006 March 4, 2006 February 25, 2006 February 18, 2006 February 11, 2006 February 4, 2006 January 28, 2006 January 21, 2006 January 14, 2006 January 7, 2006 December 31, 2005 December 24, 2005 December 17, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 03, 2005 November 26, 2005 November 19, 2005 November 12, 2005 November 5, 2005 October 29, 2005 October 22, 2005 October 15, 2005 October 8, 2005 October 1, 2005 September 24, 2005 September 17, 2005 September 10, 2005 September 3, 2005 August 27, 2005 August 20, 2005 August 13, 2005 August 6, 2005 July 30, 2005 July 23, 2005 July 16, 2005 July 9, 2005 July 2, 2005 June 25, 2005 June 18, 2005 June 11, 2005 June 4, 2005 May 28, 2005 May 21, 2005 May 14, 2005 May 7, 2005 April 30, 2005 April 23, 2005 April 16, 2005 April 9, 2005 April 2, 2005 March 26, 2005 March 19, 2005 March 12, 2005 March 5, 2005 February 26, 2005 February 19, 2005 February 12, 2005 February 5, 2005 January 29, 2005 January 22, 2005 January 15, 2005 January 8, 2005 January 1, 2005 December 25, 2004 December 18, 2004 December 11, 2004 December 4, 2004 November 27, 2004 November 20, 2004 November 13, 2004 November 6, 2004 October 30, 2004 October 23, 2004 October 16, 2004 October 9, 2004 October 2, 2004 September 25, 2004 September 18, 2004 September 11, 2004 September 4, 2004 August 28, 2004 August 21, 2004 August 14, 2004 August 7, 2004 July 31, 2004 July 24, 2004 July 17, 2004 July 10, 2004 July 3, 2004 June 26, 2004 June 19, 2004 June 5, 2004 May 29, 2004 May 22, 2004 May 15, 2004 May 8, 2004 2004 Stock Meeting April 24, 2004 April 10, 2004 April 3, 2004 March 27, 2004 March 20, 2004 March 13, 2004 March 6, 2004 February 28, 2004 February 21, 2004 February 14, 2004 February 7, 2004 February 1, 2004 January 18, 2004 December 27, 2003 December 20, 2003 December 13, 2003 December 6, 2003 November 29, 2003 November 22, 2003 November 15, 2003 November 8, 2003 November 1, 2003 October 25, 2003 October 18, 2003 October 11, 2003 October 4, 2003 September 27, 2003 September 20, 2003 September 13, 2003 September 6, 2003 August 30, 2003 August 23, 2003 August 16, 2003 August 9, 2003 Pension Lawsuit Win July 26, 2003 July 19, 2003 July 12, 2003 July 5, 2003 June 28, 2003 June 21, 2003 June 14, 2003 June 7, 2003 May 31, 2003 May 24, 2003 May 17, 2003 May 10, 2003 2003 Stock Meeting April 26, 2003 April 19, 2003 April 12, 2003 April 5, 2003 March 29, 2003 March 22, 2003 March 15, 2003 March 8, 2003 March 1, 2003 February 22, 2003 February 15, 2003 February 8, 2003 February 1, 2003 January 25, 2003 January 18, 2003 January 11, 2003 January 4, 2003 December 28, 2002 December 21, 2002 December 14, 2002 December 7, 2002 November 30, 2002 November 23, 2002 November 16, 2002 November 9, 2002 November 2, 2002 October 26, 2002 October 19, 2002 October 12, 2002 October 5, 2002 September 28, 2002 September 21, 2002 September 14, 2002 September 7, 2002 August 31, 2002 August 24, 2002 August 17, 2002 August 10, 2002 August 3, 2002 July 27, 2002 July 20, 2002 July 13, 2002 July 6, 2002 June 29, 2002 June 22, 2002 June 15, 2002 June 8, 2002 June 1, 2002 May 25, 2002 May 18, 2002 May 11, 2002 2002 Stock Meeting April 27, 2002 April 20, 2002 April 13, 2002 April 6, 2002 March 30, 2002 March 23, 2002 March 16, 2002 March 9, 2002 March 2, 2002 February 23, 2002 February 16, 2002 February 9, 2002 February 2, 2002 January 26, 2002 January 19, 2002 January 12, 2002 January 5, 2002 December 29, 2001 December 22, 2001 December 15, 2001 December 8, 2001 December 1, 2001 November 24, 2001 November 17, 2001 November 10, 2001 November 3, 2001 October 27, 2001 October 20, 2001 October 13, 2001 October 6, 2001 September 29, 2001 September 22, 2001 September 15, 2001 September 8, 2001 September 1, 2001 August 25, 2001 August 18, 2001 August 11, 2001 August 4, 2001 July 28, 2001 July 21, 2001 July 14, 2001 July 7, 2001 June 30, 2001 June 23, 2001 June 16, 2001 June 9, 2001 June 2, 2001 May 26, 2001 May 19, 2001 May 12, 2001 May 5, 2001 2001 Stock Meeting April 21, 2001 April 14, 2001 April 7, 2001 March 31, 2001 March 24, 2001 March 17, 2001 March 10, 2001 March 3, 2001 February 24, 2001 February 17, 2001 February 10, 2001 February 3, 2001 January 27, 2001 January 20, 2001 January 13, 2001 January 6, 2001 December 30, 2000 December 23, 2000 December 16, 2000 December 9, 2000 December 2, 2000 November 24, 2000 November 17, 2000 November 10, 2000 November 4, 2000 October 28, 2000 October 21, 2000 October 14, 2000 October 7, 2000 September 30, 2000 September 23, 2000 September 16, 2000 September 9, 2000 September 2, 2000 August 26, 2000 August 19, 2000 August 12, 2000 July 29, 2000 July 22, 2000 July 15, 2000 July 1, 2000 June 24, 2000 June 17, 2000 June 10, 2000 June 3, 2000 May 27, 2000 May 20, 2000 May 13, 2000 May 6, 2000 April, 2000

Highlights—September 4, 2010

• ComputerWorld: As IBM cuts jobs in Vermont, others hire. Burlington officials, tech execs explain a shifting employment landscape. By Patrick Thibodeau. Excerpt: The shrinking of IBM's U.S. workforce is particularly worrisome in Burlington Vt., which has long counted on the company to provide many good jobs for area residents. A decade ago, IBM employed about 8,000 people in the region; city officials believe the IBM workforce has since declined to approximately 5,000.
• When Fridays Were Fridays: The Great Job Heist... Offshoring. Excerpts: It started with the call center. Corporations learned that they could take advantage of cheap labor pools overseas for lower skilled jobs. Before we knew it, it was rare to call a customer support number that didn’t land us in India.

  It made sense. With constant pressure to improve profitability, companies needed to reduce expenses, and labor is a top expense. Having the ability to leverage cheaper skills gives the company flexibility and options in a tough economy.

  But it didn’t stop with the call center. In the past few years we have seen more highly skilled jobs moving overseas. Computer programmers, engineers, and accountants are just some of the professionals who have lost their jobs to offshoring. Some employees have even had the unenviable task of having to document their roles in detail, just so their jobs can be eliminated. Worse yet, some employees have had to train the overseas organizations that were taking over their roles, getting the pink slip upon completion.

  Jobs in the IT industry appear to be among the most at risk. The Times of India recently reported that IBM was now the country’s second largest employer. In 2007, IBM had 73,000 employees in India, a 43% increase from 2006. The Wall Street Journal estimates that IBM’s workforce in India could be as high as 100,000 today.

  Earlier this year, IBM stopped reporting the number of employees by country, making it extremely difficult to know how many jobs are left in the United States. Nevertheless, data as recent as last fall suggests that of IBM’s reported 400,000 workforce at the end of 2009, only 105,000 jobs remained in the United States. It appears that soon – possibly very soon – IBM will employ fewer people in the US than in India.

• LinkedIn: The Greater IBM Connection. Performance Reviews - a Beef with the Baloney What's your take on performance reviews. Are they dishonest? Selected comments follow:
  • I do think the PBC system is broken. I'm not sure what other groups are like but in the Global Services area we are given our goals, not allowed to delete any of them even if they don't apply to our position and then told to add a couple specific to ourselves. I don't see how this is at all a valuable system for anything. We fill out our results with nebulous 'achievements' based on the mandatory goals, wordsmithing the words already given to us and adding our own real achievements and successes. It's certainly not a two way street that invites communication up stream.
  • I agree with you Jordan. I have seen many managers in GBS India who don't interact much with their team members throughout the year and at the end of it they rate them based on only one persons feedback (usually PM and don't even care to discuss member's achievements and improvements with them). In GBS India your career growth is very much dependent on your manager and it'll never grow if your manager doesn't think highly of you even though you might have worked very hard and showed good results etc. I have seen many people quit IBM because of this very reason.
  • For those who remember it, PPC&E was a system used in years past. In my opinion, it was a much more objective approach to performance reviews and, thus, a much better tool. Alas, things changed...
  • As a former IBMer, and one with other "big company" experience, I can tell you that the PBC is very broken without an open and honest relationship with your manager. I have always said and will continue to say that as an employee of IBM, I would rate it as the worst company I ever worked for in terms of interaction with leadership, yearly evaluations, career path, compensation, etc. On the other side though, I never was as challenged intellectually and learned as much as I did at IBM, hence the dilemma about making it a career.

    I finally made the choice to leave because I could not get over how broken the employee systems were. If you had a good manager, you got the care and feeding to allow you to grow as a person and an employee of the company. If you had a long distance relationship with your manager, chances are you suffered because they did not spend the time to figure out who you were and the points of value you brought to the organization along with the improvement opportunities.

    Also, the system was severely broken to me. I got a raise when I was rated a 3, (the 3 times I changed jobs and had less than a year in the role, an IBM standard I was told) and no raise when I was a 2 (old system) or 2+ or 1 (new system). It did not line up at all for me and finally that dissatisfaction, along with no direction on career path and what I felt was employee apathy from the management team, I left.

    I bring this up to say that while I loved the intellectual environment, the revolving door of resources and the constant switching around of managers (I had 19 in 9 years) led me to look outside and find something I felt would provide a more personal relationship. I consider it a shame as I loved the people I had the opportunity to work with and again, the terrific environment that fostered creativity and intellectual growth.

  • Oh my gosh, I was laughing out loud when I read John's comment -- new system -- old system -- 2's, 2+'s, etc. Arrrggggh. Can you make things more complicated? I remember when we added the 2+ -- because all of the 2's were unhappy. But when it was one big bucket everyone could believe they were in the top of the 2's. When they split it it was a nightmare.
  • The change from old 4 to 3, old 3 to 2, and old 2 to 2+ was idiotic. They did not change the forced ranking. They wanted around 20% of the workforce as 2+, just like they wanted 20% as 2 under the old numbering. In my previous comment, I mentioned any system had to be honest. Shallow changes like those from 2 to 2+ are dishonest attempts at manipulation and the employees know it. I agree it was funny (but funny strange, not funny ha ha!)
  • John and Stephen, I am also a former IBMer and your notes hit the nail on the head. Your stories made me laugh and also I now remember the disappointments. Before IBM I had always worked for medium sized companies. I was part of an acquisition and the transaction to IBM was long and confusing. During my 10 years at IBM I worked for 11 managers. One manager who was very good, I had the chance to work for in three different roles across the years. I never did get the hang of the scoring system. As a 3, I was awarded by management numerous paper awards and significant cash rewards. As a 2, or 2+ there was no funding for a raise. In the end I am glad for the experience but am very glad to be out and running my own company.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Separation agreement question" by "VS". Full excerpt: Yesterday I received a "Minimized Separation" package from my manager. The package provides 13 weeks of Separation Allowance (I have over 25 years with the company), Transitional Medical Benefits, Career Transition Services and a Retirement Bridge Leave of Absence (which I am also eligible for).

  The question I have concerns the wording. On the summary page they call this a "Mutual Agreement" Separation. It is far from mutual as I had no plans on leaving IBM, but obviously they want me out.

  My question is, am I eligible to collect unemployment even though this is supposedly "mutual" and I am taking the Retirement Bridge LOA? Also, does anyone know of a good labor attorney in the Poughkeepsie area as IBM suggests I get a lawyer prior to signing the agreement. Thanks in advance for any help.

• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "madinpok". Full excerpt: If you are not being fired "for cause" (i.e. you stole something from the company or violated company rules), then you should be eligible for unemployment benefits.

  In NY, the key to collecting unemployment is to make sure that you make it clear that IBM did NOT contribute to the pension plan since 12/31/2007, and that working during that time did not increase your pension. Receiving the retirement bridge LOA and severance pay will not affect your eligibility for unemployment.

  If, for some reason, you are initially denied unemployment benefits, be sure to appeal the decision. Many folks have had this happen and the decision is reversed once they appeal.

  I think the reason that the paperwork calls it a "mutual" agreement is because IBM doesn't have to give you any sort of package with severance pay, medical benefits, etc. By accepting the items they are offering, you are agreeing to the offer and the terms and conditions that go with it. You may not be thrilled by it, but you are the one making the choice to take it, so in that respect, it is considered "mutual."

  Although I have no personal experience with this firm, I know several people who have used McCabe and Mack in Poughkeepsie and were very satisfied. They have several lawyers who specialize in labor law and should be just fine for looking over the agreement. You can also search for lawyers on the lawyers.com web site. That can help you find a firm that specializes in labor law, but is not as good as a recommendation from someone you know.

• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "VS". Full excerpt: Yes, I am not not being fired for gross misconduct, I am being fired because, according to my manager, of my performance. I did receive a 3 appraisal last year and in her opinion, was headed for another 3 this year. The fact that I've received 2 Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards and 12 patents, including one rated the 10 most valuable patents for IBM in 2005, over the course of my career, counts for nothing.

  The "summary page" that calls this a "mutual agreement" is not included in the package, but a separate "unofficial" page that summarizes and outlines the benefits of my accepting the package. The actual package discusses two kinds of separations: a) Separation Allowance which is 1 week of pay for each six months of service up to a maximum of 26 weeks of pay. b) Minimized Separation Allowance which is 1 week of pay for every year of service up to a maximum of 13 weeks.

  The Minimized Separation Allowance is used when management determines an employee's performance is declining towards and unsatisfactory level. The Separation Allowance, I am guessing, is used during resource actions.

  I have heard favorable things about McCabe and Mack in the past concerning non-labor issues, so I will call them regarding this situation. Many thanks to you and everyone who has responded. If anyone has any additional opinions, I'd be very happy to hear them as well.

• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by Susan Crane. Full excerpt: This is not relevant to your separation pay, but I just wanted to let you know that you have been a victim of an IBM strategy to get rid of employees for economic reasons. First, they decide you have to go. Then, they "manage you out" by giving you a 3, and then deciding that your work for the next year is tending toward a 3. It happened to me, and to many other people. This has nothing to do with your performance -- IBM has to make it seem that way because it shields them from lawsuits.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "nyjints5". Full excerpt: VS, I'm very sorry to read about the abuse you are currently receiving from IBM. I'm sure you are not now, nor were you ever a 3 performer.

  I'm located in Poughkeepsie, currently collecting my IBM pension, and have also been receiving NYS Unemployment Insurance of $430 per week since the first week of May in 2009. I'm expecting to receive a total of 93 weeks of UI the way things stand as of today's date. I was in the very first group of employees that was eligible to collect BOTH their pensions and UI. That's because I was notified I was being RA'ed on March 26, 2009, but retired from IBM on April 30, 2009.

  The New York State Department of Labor uses the previous 5 quarters of your work history prior to your actual last day of employment with IBM to determine the amount of your weekly UI benefit. Because IBM was not contributing to anyone's pension during the 5 quarters between 1/1/2008 and 3/31/2009, collecting a pension did not offset any amount of UI the employees RA'ed in March of 2009 were eligible to receive. Since you have worked for IBM for many more than 5 quarters since IBM froze everyone's pension on 1/1/2008, you are definitely eligible to collect both your pension and full UI benefit at the same time.

  Good luck to you. I believe you will find life out of IBM to be great!

• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by Scott Storms. Full excerpt: Every separation package I saw as an IBM manager always included 2 weeks of pay per year of service up to 26 weeks maximum. If this isn't mutual, you should hold out for that. As far as the unemployment insurance goes; I am fairly certain it depends upon your state. In my state, since it was a lump sum, I was still able to collect unemployment benefits.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "madinpok." Full excerpt: In recent years, 2 weeks pay per year of service with a maximum of 26 weeks, has only been used for layoffs (RAs). When someone is let go outside of a RA, then IBM has only been offering 1 week per year of service with a max of 13 weeks. I can't say that there aren't any exceptions to this, but with the folks I have talked to, that's the way it has worked. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask, but it is unlikely that IBM will increase the offer. As an individual, one has no leverage in this situation. If you don't accept the agreement, they will fire you and give you nothing.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "teamb562". Full excerpt: "If you don't accept the agreement, they will fire you and give you nothing." True, but if you don't accept the agreement, you don't have to "sign" which opens other possibilities and additional worries for IBM. Ask your attorney which path may be more lucrative.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "bk2006pc." Full excerpt: Interesting, what is the difference between these two? In both cases you are asked to leave IBM involuntary and by no fault of yours! Remember firing some one on performance issue is very difficult to prove in court.
• Yahoo! IBM Employee Issues message board: "Re: Separation agreement question" by "madinpok." Full excerpt: The only difference is that IBM chose to create two different rules for different situations. IBM documents say that the enhanced separation pay is at "management discretion." Also, remember that IBM is an at-will employer. They don't need any reason at all to fire you. All they have to do is say "we don't need you anymore."

  The law says that they can not fire you for certain specific reasons, such as race, religion, color, sex or national origin. To win your case, you would have to prove that they violated one of these protected categories.

  If IBM claimed that they were not giving 2 weeks severance pay rather than 1 week because of performance reasons, you might have a case to sue over. You would need some pretty strong evidence to counter IBM's performance appraisals of you. And you would have to decide if the legal costs are worth the amount of money you are fighting over. That is something a lawyer can help you decide.

• San Francisco Chronicle: CEOs who cut jobs got paid more, study says. By Tom Abate. Excerpts: The CEOs who cut the most jobs during the recession earned more than their peers, according to a study being released today by a liberal think tank in Washington. "When CEOs slash jobs they are often very richly rewarded," said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the Institute for Policy Studies' report, "CEO Pay and the Great Recession."

  Separately, the report estimated that the CEOs of the nation's largest publicly traded companies make an average of 263 times more the typical U.S. production worker. ...

  The institute calculated that the 50 CEOs - who together cut 531,363 jobs - averaged $12 million in salary, bonuses, stock options and other perks, 42 percent more than the average compensation for all of the CEOs on the Standard & Poor's 500. The report said 7 out of 10 of these top job-cutters laid off workers even though their companies ended the year profitably.

• CNN: Slashing jobs pays off ... if you're sitting in the executive suite. By Cheryl Castro. Excerpts: According to the report "CEO Pay and the Great Recession," chief executive officers of the 50 firms that laid off the most workers since the start of the economic crisis earned nearly $12 million on average in 2009. That's 42 percent more than the average pay of CEOs at S&P 500 firms as a whole.

  "I think that really shows a really perverse incentive system in this country," said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the Institute for Policy Studies' 17th Annual Executive Compensation Survey. "You are handsomely rewarded for slashing jobs in the middle of the worst economic crisis in 80 years," she said. ...

  So how do they get away with it? Anderson said you have to look at the make-up of many companies' executive boards. She said they're often made up of CEOs and high level executives from other companies "who really don't want to question this ridiculous pay system we have in this country that continues to pay people these absurd amounts of money when they're really not performing well for their company or the overall economy."

  Another disconcerting finding of the report: 72 percent of layoff-leading firms announced mass layoffs while delivering positive earnings reports. Anderson explained layoffs are really driven by efforts "to boost short-term profits even higher and also just to continue to have such high CEO pay levels." She said these mass cuts are often bad for business over the long-term because they impact worker morale, which can lead to lower productivity. She said they also result in additional costs related to hiring and training new workers down the road.

• ZD-Net: Is the American tech industry oiling its own guillotine? By Jason Hiner. Excerpts: In the future, will Andy Grove be viewed as a prophetic visionary or a misguided agitator? The U.S. better hope that it’s the latter — or change its current economic policies — because when Grove looks into the future he sees a U.S. tech industry that is likely to be severely diminished. Grove, the former head of Intel, is best known for his quote, “Only the paranoid survive.” His paranoia was once aimed at staying a step ahead of competitors in the PC wars of the 1980s and 90s, but in recent years Grove has expanded his purview to focus on the future of the larger tech industry and he is deeply concerned by what he sees in the U.S.

  Grove has been telling anyone who will listen the last couple years that the American technology sector is in decline and he has proven himself eager to diagnose its ailments. Unlike other tech leaders, these days you won’t hear Grove calling for a bunch of extra H1B Visas or other short-term tactics to buoy the tech sector. Instead, Grove has turned idealist, some would even say, “protectionist.” ...

  In a guest column for Bloomberg, Grove recently stated:

  “Americans love the idea of the guys in the garage inventing something that changes the world… Startups are a wonderful thing, but they cannot by themselves increase tech employment. Equally important is what comes after that mythical moment of creation in the garage, as technology goes from prototype to mass production. This is the phase where companies scale up. They work out design details, figure out how to make things affordably, build factories, and hire people by the thousands. Scaling is hard work but necessary to make innovation matter. The scaling process is no longer happening in the U.S. And as long as that’s the case, plowing capital into young companies that build their factories elsewhere will continue to yield a bad return in terms of American jobs.”

  He pointed out that Apple has 25,000 employees but it outsources its manufacturing to a Foxxconn facility in southern China that employs 250,000 workers to build Apple products. And this 10-to-1 ratio is essentially the same for Dell and other high-tech companies that use Foxconn, a company that now employs 800,000 workers — more than Apple, Dell, HP, Intel, Microsoft, and Sony combined.

  The common refrain in the U.S. in recent decades has been to devalue and dismiss manufacturing jobs and hang our hats on the fact that most of the high-end knowledge workers remain in the U.S. for these tech companies, and that those jobs are much more valuable and much less commoditized. Grove challenges that line of thinking, saying:

  “Not only did we lose an untold number of jobs, we broke the chain of experience that is so important in technological evolution… abandoning today’s ‘commodity’ manufacturing can lock you out of tomorrow’s emerging industry… Transferring manufacturing and a great deal of engineering out of the country has hindered our ability to bring innovations to scale at home. Without scaling, we don’t just lose jobs — we lose our hold on new technologies. Losing the ability to scale will ultimately damage our capacity to innovate.”

  The example that Grove uses to illustrate this is batteries. The U.S. makes a fraction of the Lithion-Ion batteries used to power the world’s computers and electronic devices. The U.S. lost the battery race a couple decades ago when it started shipping the manufacturing processes for consumer electronics to Asia. But now, Lithion-Ion batteries are going to be used to power electronic automobiles and that market could quickly dwarf the electronics industry and the U.S. is out of the game before it even begins. ...

  Grove’s solution You can find a lot of people who agree with Grove’s assessment of the state of the American technology industry. However, where the real controversy is over his prescribed remedy. Grove concludes:

  “Long term, we need a job-centric economic theory — and job-centric political leadership — to guide our plans and actions… The first task is to rebuild our industrial commons. We should develop a system of financial incentives: Levy an extra tax on the product of offshored labor. (If the result is a trade war, treat it like other wars — fight to win.) Keep that money separate. Deposit it in the coffers of what we might call the Scaling Bank of the U.S. and make these sums available to companies that will scale their American operations. Such a system would be a daily reminder that while pursuing our company goals, all of us in business have a responsibility to maintain the industrial base on which we depend and the society whose adaptability — and stability — we may have taken for granted… If what I’m suggesting sounds protectionist, so be it.”

• Huffington Post: The 10 Highest-Paid CEOs Who Laid Off The Most Workers: Institute For Policy Studies. By Nathaniel Cahners Hindman. Excerpts: #5, Samuel Palmisano -- IBM. Total Compensation 2009: $21,159,289. Announced Annual Layoffs (11/1/08-4/1/10): 7,800.
• Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Why Companies Need Less Innovation. Businesses need most of their workers to carry out their primary duties with enthusiasm and consistency, writes Pat Lencioni. Excerpts: Perhaps the most popular—and misunderstood—term of the first decade of the new millennium is "innovation." A new stack of books and articles is produced every year asserting the critical importance of innovation for organizations that want to survive, especially during these challenging times. And to a large extent, I agree with that assertion. Unfortunately, most organizations in search of innovation seem to be generating as much cynicism as they are new thinking.

  The problem isn't so much that we're overstating the importance of innovation; it's more about what so many leaders are doing with it. Too many of them are exhorting all of their employees to be more innovative, providing classes and workshops designed to teach everyone how to think outside the box. They're also doing their best to include innovation on a list of core values, emblazoning the word on annual reports and hallway posters, hoping that this will inspire people to come up with new ideas that will revolutionize the long-term strategic and financial prospects of the company.

  Even well-intentioned and dedicated employees are bound to respond cynically to these efforts, frustrated by what they see as hypocrisy. They just don't perceive a genuine eagerness among leaders to embrace the new ideas of rank-and-file employees, and they're mostly accurate in that perception. For all the talk about innovation, most executives don't really like the prospect of their people generating new ways to do things, hoping instead that they'll simply do what they're being asked to do in the most enthusiastic, professional way possible. And so it is no surprise when they get pounded for preaching innovation without really valuing it.

  Selected reader comments follow:

  • TE Aug 27, 2010 9:14 PM GMT It looks like the Asian model of top down management is making its way to America. The raised nail gets hammered. Egotistical top managers soon to feel that only they have been chosen by God to innovate. This is a recipe for disaster.
  • Greg Parker Sep 4, 2010 7:28 AM GMT There must be a distinction between true innovation and faddishness. TQM, 6 Sigma, Lean+ -- yada yada. Been there. Done that. In spite of management by buzzword dictionary, sometimes ideas do bubble up from the bottom. We try them. Every once in a while, quality actually does improve. True innovation can not be imposed by a quality dictatorship. It also lends a note of credibility if companies stick with the tried and true prophets of business like Carnegie and Demming, and let the other "flavor of the day" book sellers go on their merry way.

• Reuters: Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes. Excerpts: Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, despite trillions of dollars worth of sales, a government study released on Tuesday said. The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005. More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S. income taxes for two or more years in that period, the report said. ...

  With the U.S. budget deficit this year running close to the record $413 billion that was set in 2004 and projected to hit a record $486 billion next year, lawmakers are looking to plug holes in the U.S. tax code and generate more revenues. Dorgan in a statement called the report "a shocking indictment of the current tax system." Levin said it made clear that "too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and avoid paying their fair share in the United States."

• Forbes: Lessons From A 60-Year-Old Intern. By Mary Kearl. How to start a new career mid-life with an internship. Excerpts: In February 2009 Julie Allstrom, 60, an executive assistant with four decades' worth of office experience, lost her full-time job with a professional sports team in Virginia where she earned $60,000 a year. With sixth months' pay and insurance coverage included in her severance package, her husband and their five grown daughters encouraged her to finally finish her college degree that was tabled when she got married. By fall 2009 she was enrolled at George Mason University, studying a mix of workplace and organizational communications, human resources and women's studies. During her second semester, she found her next job: an unpaid internship at a national non-profit advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. ...

  Bob Edelman, founder of and director of Interns Over 40, a job-listings and employment-search-tips site that launched in July 2009 that now reaches 40,000 monthly visitors ages 45 to 55, paints a broader picture: "With unemployment at near 10% ... the over-40 category [has seen] so many well-established industries demolished, resulting in long-term structural unemployment." Affected workers are literally forced to seek new careers. ...

  For those curious in pursuing an internship, large companies like Hewlett Packard, IBM or Morgan Stanley might be more adjusted to the idea of hiring older adults, says Edelman, but small and mid-sized companies have an economic incentive to recruit to unpaid workers regardless of age. While opportunities vary, he can pinpoint one area of growth: "Clearly, in social media and social media marketing there are openings for older interns ... who have experience with marketing."

• New York Times editorial: A Million Women vs. Wal-Mart. Excerpts: For nine years, Wal-Mart has fought to stave off a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company has long discriminated against its female workers in pay and promotions. So far it has avoided a trial on the merits of the issue. The battleground instead is whether the million or so women who have worked for Wal-Mart since 2001 really constitute a class, which the company vigorously disputes. In 2004, a federal district court judge said they did, and in April the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling the case could proceed.

  Now Wal-Mart has taken the class issue to the Supreme Court. It is probably a smart legal move, given the court’s clear tendency to rule in favor of corporations, particularly when big classes or discrimination claims are involved. We hope the court resists the temptation to toss out the case, which would force women to file lawsuits one by one. Wal-Mart’s employment practices deserve a full hearing. ...

  If this goes forward it would be the largest employment discrimination lawsuit in American history. Wal-Mart could face more than $1 billion in damages if the case proceeds and the company loses. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest private employer, and as the Ninth Circuit wrote, “mere size does not render a case unmanageable.” The Supreme Court should give the women of Wal-Mart a chance to make their case together.

• Glassdoor IBM reviews. Selected reviews follow:
  • IBM Business Analyst: (Current Employee) “Great career booster as long as you only stay for three years...” Pros: Prestigious Fortune 500 company. Process-Oriented. Resume Booster. Decent Benefits. Results Driven. Cons: Administrivia. Constant changing of Service Area Managers. Utilization requires you to make up your vacation hours - Unwritten rule. HR is disconnected. Advice to Senior Management: Service area managers should not change constantly.
  • IBM Anonymous: (Current Employee) “Impersonal, unemotional profits machine. watson's IBM is dead.” Pros: Smart colleagues. Plenty of internal education available. Frequent new acquisitions to challenge the mind. Present in almost every imaginable customer and environment from the mundane to the cutting edge. Cons: Employment cost reduction has become so intrusive that employees now feel like encumbrances, not useful assets to IBM. Zero job security outside the executive ranks. Arcane and undefendable internal processes. Profound lack of mutuality in the incentives of different IBMers even on the same team. Advice to Senior Management: Take a look at the $16bn in the locker. realize that IBM has enough money to buy another planet. spend some of it in making life better for hardworking IBMers. Tear up the unfair and divisive PBC process,
  • IBM SSR in New York, NY: (Current Employee) “IBM SSR New York.” Pros: flexible, easy, the training is good, day go by quickly, mobile offices, as long as you do your job well you will not be bothered, interview was easy. Cons: growth opportunity in the SSR position is practically nonexistent, raises nonexistent, bonus nonexistent, increased vacation nonexistent, the people you work with sometimes can talk a lot behind your back and can be quite rude to your face. unfair practices such as overtime and distinguishing the hard workers from the slackers. unchallenging. Advice to Senior Management: better means for acknowledging the hardworking individuals and a better effort to retain talent and either train those that are slackers or bring them up to speed. otherwise, hiring better and more capable people from the get go, for positions being filled at ibm, should be reevaluated and scrutinized closely. equal compensation for those that are barely contributing to the the growth and reputation of ibm is unreasonable and the lack of workload / equal pay as their colleagues unjustifiable. the work just gets passed onto those others that are paid the same & capable & willing of doing the work.
  • IBM Software Engineer in San Jose, CA: (Current Employee) “Good starting point, but don't stay long unless you want to be manager or product manager.” Pros: Lab is quiet and remote. Flexible working hours, working from home. IBM's external recognition is still somewhat good, so it has some value on a resume. If you are starting fresh from school, it can be a good place to learn and gain some experience. Decent benefits. Many locations around the world for relocation. Cons: A lot. Low pay, no transparency at all about company decisions, bureaucracy at its best. It has to be the workplace in the world with most meetings per capita, where most of the workforce career goal is to to reach some (people or project) management position. The quality of the technical workforce has been aggressively depreciating with the top performers regularly leaving as they cannot stand the management hypocrisy and all the politics anymore. As a result, IBM is today one of the last places where recent grads and tech workers apply for jobs in the Bay Area. Most of the fresh-out-of-school hires come from San Jose State Univ, as IBM cannot capture the interest of students from top schools. This then reflects in the lower quality of work and software development practices. Definitely not a place to stay long after you get your first 2-3 years of experience, unless your goal is to be in management. Advice to Senior Management: Think about the long term goals and not just about your next promotion. If you keep rewarding the employees that kiss up instead of the ones being productive, eventually your product will collapse and you too will be outsourced or let go.
  • IBM Consultant in London, England (United Kingdom): (Current Employee) “Treat all graduates the same.” Pros: If you are a motivated, career orientated individual and want to be in the same place for many years - IBM is perfect. It provides the clear ladder to the top and has an obvious and simple promotion structure. Cons: I entered as a graduate hire a couple of years ago. My training was poor to say the least. I was not given any training which was aimed at my particular role but instead I was trained with a group of fellow grads from across IBM (Sales, marketing, HR functions etc...) therefore the training had to be of a "lowest common denominator" type standard where we learnt how to shake hands and answer a telephone. While I had almost 2 years of work experience and 2 degrees I was treated like a child for the first two years of work. Pay is also poor and the work life balance is fine unless you want to be promoted. Advice to Senior Management: Pay more and train better. Realise that high utilisation targets may bring short term profitability but do not create an environment in which people want to remain.
  • IBM Advisory IT Consultant in Markham, IL: (Current Employee) “Not what it used to be.” Pros: flexible work hours, good work-life balance IBM courses and education are abundant and free in many cases recognition in the industry as a pioneer. Cons: no longer any growth opportunities mismatched upper management direction and lack of vision first line managers have no clue of where the company is headed lack of recognition very little opportunity to showcase skills and ideas strategic direction is flawed. Advice to Senior Management: Refocus efforts to recognize employees for their efforts, no matter how big or small Open up your eyes to what is going on in the industry, get an ear to the ground again !
  • IBM Technical Services Professional: (Current Employee) “Its an ok company to work.” Pros: good flexibility of work from home option, some good projects to work upon. good work culture, no interference from your manager. Cons: poor band structure and poor salary .unfortunately for me it was only night shift and no project change at all. Advice to Senior Management: please have a look at the engineers who are actually working to make this company grow to its height. top mgmt should once come down and have meeting with the team members
  • IBM Consultant: (Current Employee) “IBM Consultant.” Pros: Flexible...well known branded company. Cons: Too Big...company is so big its hard to talk to anyone or feel special. Advice to Senior Management: n/a
  • IBM Awful Environment in Boulder, CO: (Past Employee - 2008) “Don't work here and if you're here now, leave asap.” Pros: There really are none, unless you can't find a job anywhere else, in which case, they'll hire you and probably keep you as long as you kiss-up to the right people. Cons: Wow, where do I begin? Bumbling, disrespectful managers, horrible hours, no chance for advancement, flat wages that actually result in pay cuts over years since they don't keep up with inflation, threats that you'll lose your job at the drop of a hat. Advice to Senior Management: Promote from within people that actually deserve it, not just people who will go along with anything you say and suck-up to you.
  • IBM IT Specialist in Greenock, Scotland (United Kingdom): (Current Employee) “Quick Review.” Pros: Wealth of expertise and knowledge to call on when designing solutions for clients. Ability to work from home. Prestige of working for a global brand. Cons: Below average salary. Too much focus on setting personal business commitments. Lack of training. Low workforce morale. Advice to Senior Management: Think less of the share price, and more of the employees. Spend less time messing around with divisional structural changes and more time on doing business.
  • IBM Anonymous in Research Triangle Park, NC: (Past Employee - 2008) “Not what it used to be.” Pros: Opportunities to learn. Exposure to unique hardware. Nice people most of the time. Cons: Salaries way too low. Huge time demands, nights and weekends - no family time. No opportunity to move up, especially for contractors. Employees under appreciated. Advice to Senior Management: Be more realistic about release times. Stop expecting people to work 70 hour weeks to make up for short release times and not enough personnel.