Thread regarding IBM layoffs

@ye We had our pay raise meetings during the RAs last year.

@14w how about 6 days ?

One day for on-boarding, 4 days to work on some Ulta-Secret Complex Quantum AI Research project that no one will ever understand, and one day for off-boarding.

Then you can reapply for your job (sorry, it got shipped off to India) or become an employee emertius on LinkedIn. But at least you got the opportunity to work at one of the world's worst companies. And lived to tell about it (on this site).

@14w it will be fine for the company but not for all employees

@jq - what does long term future look like at IBM ? 6 months ?

More proof that RA isn't going this week in the US. 1-on-1s scheduled this week in the US are for ... Pay Raises!

@hf or quit when you realize you have no long term future there

@h9 that’s the thing - it doesn’t. Just got to accept and live with it and work around it. That is the Albany way.

@h8 Thanks for in depth report. So how does this situation get fixed since IBM's so called internal tools are worse than useless to fix this garbage ? I've seen and experienced it. Seems to me that someone needs to do a business audit of all these places. IBM Legal does nothing and just passes the buck.

@gn It does not work that way. Take Albany for example. The cronyism is very obvious, and everybody knows it. One of the most obvious examples in the last 2–3 years is someone many people consider to be the site VP’s favorite person. People complain about it, point to the facts, and openly talk about what is happening. Everybody recognizes it, but nothing is done to fix the problem.

Instead, the same people continue to get promoted and receive new opportunities again and again. The evidence is not hidden. The data is not hidden. It is right in front of everyone. Everybody can see it, everybody knows and talks about it, but nothing changes.

It is like a huge pile of trash in the middle of a room. Everybody can see it. Everybody can smell it. Everybody knows it is there. It is not hidden, and some people even openly complain about it. But instead of cleaning it up, people just walk around it and continue acting like it is normal. It’s just how the site is. How it operates and works. It’s the engrained culture here and status quo.

@gs - Totally agree. Whistleblower hotline is lip service just like employee concerns. As someone noted in the following thread related to IBM accused by whistleblower of covering up breaches, Business Conduct Guidelines at IBM are suggestions rather than requirement.

https://www.thelayoff.com/t/1ktfk2spa

This is likely not true (RAs starting). How can you tell? IBM does not do late-week layoffs. RA announcements start on Tuesdays with 1-on-1 RA meeting notices going out Monday afternoon. Most managers are not made aware of when the RAs will happen until the week they do occur - that way they can't leak this information.

@gp Total BS...all those tools that IBM says should be used to report wrong doing (such as Speak-Up and the other so called confidential channels) and make complaints about corruption and unethical behavior DO NOT WORK. Been there, done that and saw that IBM senior management covers up for wrongdoing by IBM India executives every time. They do not even follow the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines. Nothing happens to these unethical executives, and the reporter is pushed out of the company on one pretext or another (pick your favorite exit strategy - Layoff, PIP etc.)

Indian culture is the problem and a lot of people at IBM will tell you that also.

While you only stress on the positive stuff, there are plenty of examples where unethical Indian engineers, doctors and entrepreneurs have robbed their coworkers, companies and patients. It's a fact of life, even if you choose to say otherwise.

That' why IBM has Layoffs, PIPS and other strategies labelled under the guise of cost cutting and cost savings to transfer the jobs to India. Why not choose any other country or destination for the jobs also ? The world is a big place, so why do US jobs have to be sent to one country only ? And finally, why do US jobs have to be destroyed and sent offshore by IBM executives ?

@gn

If you have evidence that specific executives engaged in favoritism, corruption, or violated company policies, then investigate them and hold them accountable. But "some executives from India behaved badly, therefore Indian culture is the problem" is a leap that doesn't hold up. India has produced world-class engineers, entrepreneurs, and ethical leaders just as every country has produced its share of bad actors. Accountability should be based on conduct, not nationality.

It makes me sick to the stomach to watch the rampant abuse of PIP to fire employees because IBM does not need them anymore. Those who truly deserve the PIP are in leadership positions.

@e2

"IBM has lost its way" is an argument. "Everyone from a certain country is corrupt" isn't. If your criticism of leadership can only stand by stereotyping millions of people, you've weakened your own case. Hold executives accountable for their decisions, not their passports.

@e9 The biggest invention IBM has done that impacted me? The 401k. It was invented specifically to ki-l the Pension system that created the Middle and Upper Class in America, and it worked. They tried the same with that faux 401k replacement but it didn't catch on. But hey it lets them not fund it and let the FDIC fix the problem after they all flee back to New Delhi. Is good jugaad~, saar.

@bf they should go out fighting. They are doomed but should cause a ruckus and pull the veil off this charade pip system

@e9: - "Which IBM invention has impacted YOUR daily life the most?" IBM bathroom queuing patent.

@e9 Why did they not put in Acquisition, Layoffs, PIP, RA, RTO ?

Too sensitive to negative publicity and the thin skinned Alvind Krispy-Kreme. LOL

The CHRO is now running a Poll on Linkedin to commemorate 115 years of IBM.

Which IBM invention has impacted YOUR daily life the most? Choices are ATM, Barcode, PC and Watson.

What about Acquisition, Layoffs, PIP, RA, RTO as options ?

@da IBM is the only company that puffs up pathetic, incompetent, unethical ,corrupt, worthless leaders like Arvind and his Pipmunks and designates them as leaders of technology. If IBM was still a leader of technology as it was in the 1980s and 1990s, and leading at the forefront of technology, I would stand corrected for what I wrote. But IBM has become nothing more than a center for financial engineering and marketing lies. It is a sad fact that more and more managers and leaders at IBM behave unethically and yet they sign off on the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines every year. Why ? This dishonest behavior has come from India and permeates the global organization like a stench from Arvind's toilet. The IBM Legal Department doesn't do anything but their Senior VP collects a bundle of money for sitting around.

So to have a pathetic loser like you from IBM India HR telling me that I should limit my comments on the behavior of corrupt VPs and managers who lay off thousands of US employees means that you care more for appearances of how IBM is perceived than the mistreatment done to it's employees. You are obsolete heartless loser and will not be re-inventing yourself at the dump called IBM, once you get your termination notice. BTW, How is it that Arvind is over the age of 64 and still in the CEO's chair, eh ? Whose Azz is he kissing these days to stay there ?

IBM's core business is financial engineering and one of the biggest levers to accomplish that is continuously timing layoffs to match dips in Revenue so that the desired earnings result can be produced. Just LOL at anyone who believes that IBM is a leader in actual products let alone Quantum or AI or that IBM should be mentioned in the same breath as actual Tech companies.

Good riddance. They all deserved it! Failures to IBM

@da obviously you can't comprehend English.

So you try and confuse everyone with your garbage.

@cc

Saying "97% of executives are heartless villains" and then insisting "that's not a generalization" is... literally a generalization. If someone claimed 97% of employees were lazy, incompetent, and overpaid based on their personal experiences, we'd rightly call that nonsense. Bad leaders exist. So do good ones. Reducing tens of thousands of people to cartoon villains because of personal grievances isn't truth—it's anger dressed up as statistics.

https://sanfordheisler.com/investigation-underway-mass-layoffs-at-ibm/

Investigation of Retirement Plan Mismanagement and the Mass Layoffs at IBM

Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, a national employment rights law firm, is investigating potential retirement plan mismanagement at IBM and other violations of employee rights surrounding IBM’s mass layoffs. In addition to mismanagement of IBM’s employee 401(k) plan, we are investigating potential wrongful termination claims and violations of the WARN Act. If you were laid off by IBM and you believe your rights may have been violated, or have concerns about the performance of your IBM retirement plan, please contact our firm today.

@OP with AI tools available, do you really need so many expensive DevOps people working in IBM ? Why not lose them first and then their first and second line managers too ? Too expensive compared to AI tools, right ? That's the growth mindset for using AI. Do the same and get rid of the useless Security gurus who do nothing but collect oversized paychecks. Mr. Dead Gerbil will be smiling in his grave.

Hey OP can you provide a few specifics like which country, which business unit, number of people affected and likely band levels. We understand you cannot say so much that someone can identify you, but you could provide a fair bit more detail without risk

@cb you're back ! I look forward to you getting on the CIO RA list as you become a major expense and an even bigger embarrassment to your management. That's what you have been asking for with all your postings at this site.

@ca, at IBM, nearly all (97%) executives are heartless villains, particularity those who throw other US employees under the bus and transfer their jobs to India, of course. This is not generalization, but fact in my experience. IBM HR spins the cr-p, but truth is truth. you can't hide it forever and it comes out. I didn't know of a few bad bad apples, but a lot of them particularly in F&O organization. Bad news follows you especially when you mistreat your coworkers and other employees. You can run but you cannot hide.

@c9

Difficult decisions are made. However I am positioning myself to learn as much as I can so I don't get RA'd. Mr Gerstners book inspired me to join IBM

@c8

"I knew a few bad ones" doesn't prove every executive is a heartless villain. Some are arrogant, some are compassionate, and many are simply carrying out decisions made far above their pay grade. Generalizations cut both ways.

@Bg. Given that IBM hooked up with servicenow on legacy enterprise solutions

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2026-06-11-ibm-and-servicenow-expand-collaboration-to-unlock-enterprise-data-for-ai-at-scale

(eg ones that make lots of money), YES you are correct that F&O is way overdue for a restructuring. Remember F&O is viewed by IBM exec’s as nothing more than a cost and they would love to automate them.
To our band 6 soon to be a band 7 poster remember this. You are viewed as a cost, and as you become more expensive, you are in the automation bullseye. Your badges will not save you

@c7 Oh Really ?? I know several senior executives who used to go out and celebrate in the restaurants around Southbury (CT) after the layoffs. Big expensive dinners and drinks too. Who are you kidding about angst and reflection from executives after layoffs? Executives at IBM lead charmed lives. Maybe it's time for many of them to pay the price on this round of layoffs. Couldn't happen to a nicer group of cold hearted crooks....musical chairs on the sinking Titanic.

Layoffs are never easy. The employees losing their jobs bear the immediate impact, but decent executives don't celebrate these decisions either. They know they're affecting mortgages, families, and livelihoods, and many carry that burden long after the meeting ends. Sometimes they're executing decisions handed down from above, not making them lightly.

@OP Hallelujah and pass the Turkey please.

Mass Layoffs have finally arrived for 2026...we need more firecrackers for the 4th of July particularly more "donations" from those senior loser Managers and Pipmunks in the US. Time to cut the mustard or get ready for the chopping block.

@c2 is that where Arvind Krispy Kreme's current main squeeze hangs out?

Just as long as Albany is fine and untouched. Rest of you can get fu---d

When is F&O going to get whacked ? They are long overdue for all the useless cr-p coming out of that division. Joanne Wrong needs to get her nose put Right and shown the door as Client "Minus One". Too many so called middle managers and architects getting big bucks for doing ZIP and still working from home. Start with Matt the Brat as Client "Minus Two"- another clueless, useless and brainless loudmouth. AI can replace him yesterday and do a better job than all the lies he tells during his presentations.

@a3 Unknown. As always, they're using PIPs to build paperwork to justify letting people go. One person on my team was put on a PIP out of the blue and for what he felt was spurious reasons, then immediately let off the PIP, just in time to be benched.

Almost every single person on my team that was given notice was American. The ones that aren't are Canadian. They got 80-90% of the Americans last year, so this is them just cleaning up as they onboard replacements, I guess.

@OP - I wish I was on that list before being told for RTO - Are they playing favorites when it comes to deciding between PIP, RA, RTO etc?