Back to the subject of this site, what is the current landscape of RAs and pips everyone is currently seeing out there? Including business unit and organization would be helpful in response.
31 replies (most recent on top)
Ask yourself what is IBM’s strategy going forward. I would speculate it’s two fold.
- Lower costs to rock bottom. (Outsource, partner, offshore, PIP, and layoff exploit this strategy)
- Farm “enterprise” as they own the Monopoly (this is accomplished via “buying innovation in SW, developing chip technology in Infrastructure, and using AI in consulting)
Everything else the 3 divisions do is just a tangent and reverts back to “lower costs to rock bottom”
@g9 you are all encouraging them by engaging. Just ignore them
@ep you’re not here to “express” your viewpoint. You’re a troll. All of your posts have nothing to do with the subject matter this website was created for. You’re a living joke.
@ep truthfully you're just ridiculously annoying. Almost everyone on this site has been (or were) at IBM for years and have either seen the dismissive, disrespectful way IBM treats people, or have been victims of it themselves. You are painfully naive and condescending and, quite frankly, don't have enough experience to weigh in.
As others have mentioned, you can be the absolute best employee, you can be the top team member, get all the badges in the world, log 100 Think40 hours, work your nights, weekends, and vacations, go into the office 5 days a week and your name will STILL come up on a spreadsheet at some point and you'll be shown the door. Stop trying to correct people who have been around long enough to know what is true.
@e8 I am from Albany - all the ones I saw were high performers and some were quite shocking
If I become an executive and I find out people are stealing or day trading that is grounds for termination. IBM is an at will organization in the US.
@ep you lie - you have already threatened to fire anyone who didn't agree with you once you became an executive. Take a good look at the post below and then deny it was you who wrote this :
If you are not aware of what you are writing on this site, you are a psycho needs to be committed elsewhere.
I've not threatened anyone, harassed anyone, or violated any rules. Disagreeing with my opinions doesn't make them spam. If I've broken a rule, the moderators can decide that, but simply expressing a different viewpoint isn't trolling.
@aq All of what you said is a lie. I've seen people who do everything you describe get RA'ed or PIP'ed simply because of their age and salary, or because someone from up above said "pick someone - you have no choice" to a first line manager. Age-ism is illegal at least here in the US, but that doesnt stop IBM. That's why the BCG training is a complete joke. If you can't see whats going on in IBM, then there isnt anything anyone can say that's going to help fix your delusional thinking. You'll just sit there and drink the blue kool-aid until your number comes up...and it will.
@dy Guys, the troll is here to disrupt and throw things off topic. It thrives on attention. We all know it's full of sht when it says it has all these badges and training and goes into the office, because it's always here posting. I'm also going to write to the moderators and see if they can ban the troll's IP address, as it keeps spamming the board with propaganda.
@dz in Albany they said they overhired and put people on PIPs after they picked low performers
We all know the PIP system isn’t really used the way it’s officially described, right? That it’s implemented in a way that is its stated purpose? I feel like this isn’t common knowledge amongst my colleagues
I know multiple sellers who have been put on PIPs in Sales in several markets in the USA. Really good people too. Rob Thomas really F’ed up the Sales Org when they made the major changes in 2025. Maybe that was by design because it seems everything IBM execs are doing these days are designed to get people to want to leave. Not enough are leaving, so they get put on PIPs for imaginary performance problems then get let go with no severance. Can’t wait to see how Rob F’s up the entire company once the little POS currently sitting in the chair jumps out of the plane with his golden parachute. Oh…and raises are mostly non existent this year. The little POS at the top got his $30M though, and that’s all he cares about. Sorry for the rant but I hope I answered the OPs question.
@ag the new hires are at much junior level and some are still waiting to be assigned a project
It's obvious that you ARE an IBM India HR bot. You just don't know it. Read Nick Bostrom's paper, Are You Living in a Computer Simulation. Or I should say, find it and input it. LOL
You're not a great simulation. I mean, you keep repeating the same swill: band 6, Mr. Gerstner, spewing hot and thick, .... But you are an IBM India HR bot.
I am not an Indian Bot. Quit spewing lies
@be Even an IBM India HR liar-bot rage-bait troll shill spanky-pants can dream. LOL
You need to stop with the India HR Bot nonsense. Some of you like to throw around allegations for example HR India bot or that Kavanaugh is cooking The books without any evidence.
I am going to be a band 7 this year. And one day my dream of being an IBM Executive will happen. Mr Gerstners book inspired me
Bob - I need you to write a PIP for 4 employees
Bob: I see you have 10 employees under you. Which 4?
I don't know they are all good. I was told to write PIP for 4 by my manager
Bob: Don't worry. I will apply an algorithm to randomly select 4 for fairness
Can you create PIP such that they will fail it?
Bob: Yes, I have been trained by IBM using PIPs that have been ambiguous in outcomes and impossible to achieve.
@ah call up the US Dept. Of Labor for reporting IBM's violations against it employees. Not sure if they will do anything but you never know...Trump has his back to the wall these days.
1-866-4-USA-DOL (866-487-2365)
And to heck with the darn IBM India HR Troll from the CIO.
@aq Hey Mr. IBM India HR liar-bot rage-bait troll shill spanky-pants !
Hope your manager sets up a call for a conversation with you next Tuesday morning in the US. It could be an enlightening experience. Or should I say a sun-setting experience ? It should get to all those on the naughty list from Joanne Wrong.
@aq Is this the band 6 India bot that is going to be an executive some day? Maybe make it to atleast your first promotion before providing career advise. Learning to read and respond to the origional question not spewing your propaganda.
From what I've seen, the best way to reduce your risk is pretty simple: show up to the office at least three days a week as Arvind has requested, do your job well, keep upskilling as technology changes, and make yourself available when the business needs support, even if that occasionally means working outside normal hours. Nothing is guaranteed in any large company, but employees who consistently deliver results, stay current with new skills, and are dependable tend to be in a much stronger position than those who spend all day worrying about rumors and speculation
@ac Good! We should have be like this. The PIP is bullsh-t. We should all make a big stink about it so it goes away. Call them out on their bullsh-t it’s way past time we all did
@a5 I see a lot new hires in consulting?
Let’s stop dancing around the elephant in the room. Do we really think all Band 9s and Band 10s are worth the cost based on what they actually deliver? Here’s what going on with workforce transformation:
Higher level bands will either be PIPed, RAed, or leave on their own. Those deemed as core performers, but are actually kicking a-s will give the finger on their way out.
Our leadership will invest in entry level talent and give them a variety of AI tools to enable to fill knowledge and skills gaps. They will also invest in managers who can work with this new generation of workers.
Our portfolio of products and services will significantly streamline, meaning you will need fewer resources overall across PM, marketing, sales, etc..
I am bracing for an RA. However I am not going down without a fight :-)
There are pips going on in infrastructure
Which division is that ?
@OP In consulting they bench you and put you on PIP for low utilization. There are many contenders for just a handful of contracts that keep getting pushed out to a future date, you get about a month on bench and then your employment is just a historical record.
None in 2026 Arvind said!
I have seen no RAs or PIPs... looks like there are no pay raises at all this year.