Thread regarding IBM layoffs

I enjoy working anywhere, including IBM.
I leave, when it becomes a problem that I am working as others worry, that it looks bad on them. So far at IBM, doing a good job is not a problem.

Overall I liked working at IBM but my favorite employer was Digital Equipment Corporation. Just a lot more innovation at DEC during those times and I enjoyed developing and architecting custom software solutions for customers using innovative DEC technologies.

It is very understandable to see negative comments here by people who have been impacted by layoffs. Check out the layoff for Salesforce or Microsoft. You will see the same thing. Look I worked over two decades for IBM before retiring. I worked another decade for a major technology vendor and a large manufacturer. And then another decade working for several small companies. All had layoffs or eventually went out of business. Trust me that is fun working for a company when their business is thriving but stressful when their business is struggling. I loved working for all my employers but they did cause stress when they started laying off people even though I was never impacted and I was told I would be one of the last to go. What bothered me was seeing people I cared about or respected being let go. I have seen it all and lived a lot.

I agree with the original poster. I truly appreciate the excellent work-life balance at IBM. I'm glad to say that I don't have to work weekends, and I genuinely feel happy and proud to be part of the IBM team.
I joined IBM five years ago, and I'm now in my second role here. While it's true that there have been RAs, in my previous department, only one person was affected, and in my current department (Organization: F&O), they removed all the contractors last year. If I were to be next in line for an RA, I suppose I'd have to explore other opportunities. Being in my early 50s, I might fall into the category of those who could be impacted next if I should believe everything that I read here.
It's worth acknowledging that no employer is without its flaws. There will always be reasons to feel dissatisfied, encounter challenges, or have issues with your managers or peers, whether they're at IBM or elsewhere.
From my perspective, IBM compensates me generously (I'm in Band 8) and treats me fairly. While I understand the need for a place to express frustrations and seek advice, I'm perplexed by the abundance of negative comments here. If things are truly as dire as some suggest, perhaps they should consider departing on their own terms.
Btw. I`m not an HR person, exec, bot,... - just a satisfied employee.

100% provoking troll, with the thumbs up gang. Clear.
Yeah right it doesn't matter where you work and what you do... and there's no pressure in your work to stay overtime or weekends. No RAs for the 5 years you were there. ..
You've described an HR bot dude.
Mite this troll...

I was fortunate to retire on my own this year. Every team I had been on was impacted by RAs or PIPs over the years. And I have been on local account teams, regional teams, worldwide teams, and SWAT teams. Always wondering when my time would be up since I was getting up there in age. I was extremely productive, had technical skills that far exceeded many of my peers, was widely respected by customers and peers, and had very good sales results over the year. But I could see that IBM management was blatantly favoring the early professional hires. Many of them received more training than I ever had at IBM and yet many of them could not have a meaningful discussion with customer architects, developers, or infrastructure support personnel that required any technical depth. Bring me in or some other deeper resource was usually the answer. I just got tired of it them getting all the perks while I got all the deep works. I actually regret retiring as I loved working with technology and customers but sadly I saw the writing on the wall.

@6dgy+1oPWFkW4
It does matter where you work. You are making a claim that you have found an organization in IBM that's all roses and no thorns. No RA's in last 5 years! Pray, tell us which one. That way, we can have others confirm or challenge what you are saying.

Or, it may be that, by sheer luck, you have found a pocket in IBM that's all peace and kumbayah. But you do not want to tell us more about it because you KNOW that the rest of IBM is bad and you are a lucky outlier so perhaps you are doing this for self-preservation?

Either way, it is unhelpful to the rest of readers here.

Hello, it's me again. It does not matter where I work. Nobody on our team has been RAed, and nobody I know in our organization has been RAed since I started about 5 years ago. I've heard no hallway whispers about people leaving involuntarily. So it hasn't really mattered whether you're a go-getter or not, in terms of RAs, in my organization. You can choose to work more hours, or not, and you're still employed.

I don't feel any pressure to work more hours. I am sure some do, and they probably chose that path to try to get ahead. But like I said, the work/life balance is more important to me at this point in my life. I don't want to be a circus animal jumping through hoops for HR/managers.

Consulting and expert labs for that matter has a fundamental problem Too many bosses and not enough workers so staffing numbers are out of alignment. A secondary problem is a lack of execution. IBM called the hybrid cloud/ai/sw modernization enterprise play 3 years ago To date they still are not executing it well due to exceedingly poor middle management

I think AK's announcement about IBM Consulting tells you all you need to know. IBM Consulting is in real trouble. AK is bringing two executives back to fix the issues that Granger is incapable of fixing. Granger will be out soon, my prediction!

You may very well be right that Expert Labs is doomed, AK made a big announcement that he is beefing up IBM Consulting.

Since COVID, Expert Labs has been suffering of not being able to be on site at customers.
It is still the case, and it is slowly but surely ki-ling the business. Expert Labs already run with a skeleton crew and using a large amount of contractors that can come in and out quickly. A better place to be these days is Expertise Connect.

AK hates Expert Labs they are in his crosshairs

Expert Labs (XL) is the new mini GTS inside IBM - or rather the new ITS (for those who have been around longer than 10-15 years). ITS used to do the kind of short-term professional services engagements that XL sells now.

Expert Labs also over-hired in the last year. Mostly, they hired anyone who could spell AI. Therefore, many times Expert labs itself is forced to sub-contract out due to lack of skills on core HW/SW technologies. And, since it is all labor costs billed by the hour, their engagements come at a steep price. A week of work by Expert Lab costs $40,000. Between IBM products not selling on the one side (which diminishes need for "IBM experts" in the first place) - and - competition from IBM Consulting on the other, demand for Expert Labs is unlikely to meet sales quotas. People in Expert Labs should enjoy while they can. They have about a year before this becomes apparent to all.

P.S. This is reminiscent of when IBM hired a whole bunch of "cloud advisors" a few years ago to help customers adopt the much internally-hyped IBM cloud. Two years passed, no one bought IBM Cloud and many "advisors" were let go.

Sure, it's positively delightful! :D

Come and work in Expert Labs... We have great work-life balance... Just enough work to avoid the PIPs, the rest of the time is nirvana spent at home enjoying life!

It won't probably last forever, but for now it is damn good!

What area do you work in that you have excellent work life balance and don't have to work weekends?

For many of us as RAs and attrition happens we are just expected to do more. Ends up doing the job that 3-4 people equivalents of work and expected to put the time in to get the work done. It is do much more with less. If you don't do it then you are a low performer and end up in a PIP situation.

And some people enjoy cutting themselves or getting kicked in the nuts - but (secks) that doesn't mean it's good for you or that you should encourage others to do it. 😏

I will probably work here, until I can work no more.

You mean the next layoff.

No complaints for much of my career tbh. Seemed like the review process / lack of layoffs / lack pay increases concerns were a good bit less 2014-2022 or so. This year? Oof... huge push to hire in India, layoffs, extremely limited job openings, and what seems to be a big push for PiPs. Executives going on and on about tripling developer output ( double ok but triple? lol). Not handling RTO well...

Unfortunately I was reluctant to move during covid times when I knew i was dealing with toxic management, lack of technical leadership.. and a general malaise about work ( didn't really affect output). Bo-m 30 day PiP . Ouch - I'll be fine but the fact leadership can do this is to an employee is astonding.

"And I don't really need the most benefits at this point in my life."

So IBM's hired you at old age to retire at IBM? Nice retirement. .. you're already on Medicare and get social security, paid mortgage and just look at something to do...

You have no relevant technical skills obviously so you just learn at IBM... is that your job ? IBM's a wonderful retirement village. ..

Unfortunately most people have student loans to pay, buy a house and pay mortgage, what racing cars and yachts are you talking about. ..

Everyone at IBM's open and honest? Right... especially the executives right?

I hope IBM's HR locate you to layoff as it's obvious you contribute nothing just lick you know what... no one will notice if you're gone... of course you're the example for IBM's defense to say they hire old guys ... nice writing how divers the workforce is with representation of all backgrounds. ..

How much do you get paid to write this stuff...?

You do realize the dude saying he was working 5 years at IBM, then saying he has decades of technical work experience and took a paycut to avoid stress and changed jobs to less "stressful" with less pay...

He doesn't say what he's doing. .. talking about nonsense as if people working for IBM are greedy and that's why they are not happy and cite philosophers etc...

Joke of the century. ..

Why are you reading a layoffs site dude?

You're as fake as it gets... yes right IBM's hires you at 60s and you saved money over many decades being frugal, of course you only work for IBM 5 years...

Clear give away, a political party spoke person about how IBMers dare have a life instead of being slaves...

How many more like yourself do you know at IBM? Oh yes, the HR bots work cheap, don't complain ever ...

Also the Executives protect each other worse than doctors. There is no accountability. When they sc--w everything up they just switch hats with another one and get to do it all over again in another area. It's disgusting

@1dyx+1oPWFkW4

Please step off your high horse. Most people in IBM are regular people just like you. People who are buying flashy cars and Rolexes are few and far between. The reason people are unhappy with IBM is because executives play politics and make bad decisions. These executives then cover up their mistakes by firing employees while maintaining a sham of success in front of clients and investors.

People like IBM for the things mentioned in the original post but they do not like being under a constant threat of a layoff for no fault of their own. The anxiety ruins it. Even if people have enough savings to live after being laid off, it still causes disruption and stress. And, yes, one could could retire or start a business or whatever - it is still a change that was forced by the employer - not a change they made on their own terms. I very highly doubt that you will be jumping with joy on the day IBM lays you off despite all you said.

Finally, I will say this though: People who are unhappy with IBM for any reason should just leave on their own terms. And, if they are unable to leave for whatever reason, they should stop complaining and be grateful for what they have. It's not like they have a choice.

This dude sounds like will be perfectly happy in North Korea with its dear leader.... where have you been? All we know hate it, even the old timers but not everyone can move because of a number of reasons. Yes if you enjoy doing nothing be politically correct, give smooth talking and leaking this is the place for you... enjoy your North Korea island of happiness at IBM. ..!

Hello, it's me again. I am not trolling, not HR, not AI, and not Rob Thomas.

If an RA comes, I will be fine. I could retire early, look for another position, or start my own business.

I saved most of my earnings, and have been financially independent for quite some time. I did not spend extravagantly on cars, houses, boats, and other material things. Currently I save about $5K USD per month. I used to save about $9K at my previous high stress job. So I intentionally took a huge pay cut so I could have my weekends open.

I have been very fortunate to never have been laid off during my multi-decade career in Tech. But I've seen plenty of good people let go. It's not an IBM-only thing. You all should know that by now.

I feel like the people here are not unhappy with IBM, they are unhappy with their financial situation. They spend too much money on material possessions, have little savings to fall back on, and feel insecure as a result. And they blame IBM for all their troubles when they get laid off.

Your material possessions own you. They break, they get lost or stolen, they need maintenance, you worry about keeping up with other people. You want the fancy cars, the big houses, the expensive watches and clothes. It takes needless time and energy. Life is too short to spend all that time on those things that eventually will turn to dust.

Read Ecclesiastes. Seneca. Thoreau. Marcus Aurelius. They will teach you how to live, if you are willing to listen.

Yeah right you love it ...LOL such a perfect paradise isn't it. ..? You're either a troll or related to AK and minions LOL

Hi Rob Thomas. I see that you are here and checking this site out.

HR using watsonx to write their B.S. post now.

I was 16 years at IBM and would go back in a hearth beat. Jobs are horrible out there and nothing compare to life balance and remote work at IBM. I seriously would go back even if it means a layoff in 5 years! I hate what's out there.

Guessing you work in design (any BU) or maybe a non-direct business-y position in sales. From my 5 years of experience, those are the most cushy roles where expectations are low. You have ample time to "just learn" because your role is non-essential to core business. You're probably likable enough or a good enough bull sh----r to get by, but further tightening or a rogue RA could leave you sh-t of luck. Unless you check the box as a useful, protected class to advertise/flaunt on social media, then have fun with your free money.

Hello HR

Wait till he/she gets the RA call

whats your job role ?
what is your total compensation ?
Are you given any RSUs ?

Wow sounds like some simp wrote this…

Drinking IBM koolaid ?