Thread regarding IBM layoffs

I do a lot of work with the university hires in my geo. They all hate IBM and constantly talk about how much it sucks here and where they’re interviewing to go to next. We have a retention rate of somewhere around 30%.

@3ivn+1buclvsi bruh fang companies offer that to new grads and
Other tech companies to people with 3+ yoe.
Do your research! Why i keep saying, ibm is lowest pay in tech.

I don’t doubt there are some decent teams and managers at IBM.

The question is whether people get to stay on such a team long enough before the next reorg and get a bad manager.

Decades ago, there were more good places/managers than bad, and the employee can move out or wait for the bad manager to move out.

In recent years, there seems to be more bad places than good and 1 bad one can result in a RA.

Wonder why happy ‘15yr, band 9 swe 184K’ IBMer is hanging out at an IBM layoff site?

Maybe to check up on IBM lay-off rumors, or perhaps actually is a troll.

"for what? 5x the stress, 1.5x the salary? "

Over a decade that adds up in your bank account. But if you're happy with the $$$, that's OK.

Depends on what SWE you are doing how long lived your current role would be.

Been my experience, few I've met earn $184K at IBM in SWE or other non-management roles.

15yr, band 9 swe 184K, recently relocated to Durham. Pretty dang happy. No way I'd move and work at FAANG.. for what? 5x the stress, 1.5x the salary? seems d-mb

There are plenty of good places. You'll only get the bitters responses because the ones doing well don't come on here and whine like crybabys. There are 350.000 people, you get like 20 responses. That's no indication of the overall happiness of employees.

I think it's silly that people tend to think anyone can get hired at a top 5 tech company. It ain't easy. Less than 1% of developers can land at FAANG... most will not so they'll need to go somewhere, right? All this "if you're not first you're last" nonsense I see on the forum is misleading and deceptive. Do your best, do what you like, if you're not satisfied look elsewhere. This goes for any industry, any company, and anyone. Cheers

IBM is not a good option for recent college grads. Grads come out of school today facing an ultra-competitive world. The old saying "Time = Money" is more important today than any other time. Every second they waste at IBM is a second they are falling behind their peers at MS, Azure, Google, etc. At 22, you can't afford that anymore. Padding your resume with IBM isn't a positive anymore, it's a negative. Everyone out there knows IBM is no longer a leader in many technology areas. Why should they waste their time here?

IBM may be a household brand name.
However within tech, IBM is not a ‘big name’. There’s a reason why there’s no ‘I’ in FAANG.
I advised my son to avoid IBM.

If a young person has no other choice, work at IBM for no more than 1-2 years and spend that time honing skills to find a company with more growth potential.

There were a handful of decent teams, but inevitably there would a reorg, and all bets would be off.
Once I had 4 managers in 9 months and within a day, my job would go from good to he-l then finally to RA.

Here lies one of IBM's most pervasive issues, namely the short term nature of everything they do. Whether it's rabid cost and people cutting to manipulate the quarterly financials at the top or the techs at the coalface regarding their roles as stepping stones to greener pastures, this 'quick fix' culture erodes quality and is rarely in the client's interest.

"Is IBM a Club Med type for recent graduates? "

Not even, the food sucks at IBM...

@nht+1buclvsi GBS hasn’t grown one dime of revenue in over 5 years. Read the annual reports.

Old story... a decade or more old... But at one of the GDF's (yes they were/are sweatshops) saw a gal enter as a secretary and in a year was trained and promoted into storage management / administration.

IBM's only real problem is declining revenues... everything else stems from that.

When money if flowing... easy to be generous... when not... well it's like trying to breath through a coffee straw.

Somewhat tangential... there places where they think adding a GUI to the mainframe will attract the young programmers... not sure I agree... pay and perks like FAANG would work better IMHO... if the perception was great career and great pay are at IBM... all those kids would be jumping to learn ISPF... LOL!

It's all about money, status, quality of life. Simple as that... that's why people work for the most part.

This is a troll post. Every young person I talk to can’t wait to leave. If you like it here, it’s because you’re a lazy worker who likes just cashing the check.

The lucky ones figure out this is not for them and find another career path

Is IBM a Club Med type for recent graduates?

LMAO bruh no young people wanna work at ibm.
At best having ibm on resume means lowball offer from other companies, at worst it is very bad career wise as there are very few teams left where you can learn something from talented people, in most teams people are trying to save themselves from RA and gatekeep all the info to themselves.

Ibm also lays off young people and destroys their career trajectory.

ibm pays bottom pay in tech and hence cannot get people from prestigious colleges anyway, unless they're visa chained.

I think You're neither young employee nor work in a tech position.

Sure, a new graduate might not have a lot of choice, especially if they need to get down to the business of paying off student loans. But, DON'T STAY for longer than ~2 years. Get the experience under your belt, then get out. By that point, many other employers will consider you much more seriously than when you graduated.

This isn't the place to find supporters, but there are good parts of IBM to work for, where there is still growth (e.g. GBS). If you're in a legacy or low margin business it's going to be rough regardless what you do.

Ignorance is bliss. A fresh graduate's first job simply means they won't have anything better to compare it to.

Evidence?