This is the general labor market trend we have been seeing for the past 20+ years. Layoffs come also when the company is experiencing record profits. IBM made the top ten spot with over 3 million EBIDTA per laid-off worker in 2022. Could it be that they do not want to share the profit with us who created it in the first place?
https://www.business.com/finance/big-tech-earnings-and-layoffs-compared/
Back when I was an employee, IBM paid a rather generous sum for moving expenses. I don't know if they still do this, but I know that I wouldn't want to pay a moving company for a cross-country move. Uprooting your life is damn expensive, and in an era of remote work very few jobs are worth the effort...especially at IBM.
The new buzzword is "redistribution". IBM has stopped packages and outright cutting staff. They now say that an Employee has been selected for redistribution and they are given X amount of time to secure a new position within the Company. The Problem is.... More often than not; there are not jobs suitable for said Employee. A few are selected and placed into positions where the Employee must now Uproot their lives and move to Wherever the position is OR they can choose to leave the Company. My area lost 12 people to this in 2023 and we all feel they are not done.
After all the C-level pigs get their fat bonuses for 'jobs well done', how else is the company supposed to backfill that cash outflow ... why, more layoffs and reorgs of course.
Watson is rolling over in his grave.
As crass as it sounds, it is totally natural for management and shareholder to want to keep as much profit for themselves. If you (labor) don't like it, then you're free to leave. That is the nature of a free market economy.
That said, it speaks very poorly of IBM's management to act in this manner. They don't see value in a technically skilled workforce and have not seen it in a long time...so like poorly treated money, poorly treated labor will continue to leave them. The company's fate is well-deserved.
Interesting metric! I worked for both IBM and Digital Equipment Corporation. DEC was laying off but their earnings were also in the red.
yep. get out asap. im making so much money after leaving IBM.