Thread regarding IBM layoffs

There are plenty of Business Partners (BP) who love to hire older IBMers because they truly need the skills and experience. There is plenty of life after IBM, and if you get an offer while still being at IBM, I would just leave on your own terms.

This is exactly what I did, and I don't regret it a bit.

It is really sad that so many companies in the US look to get rid of the older worker, especially those over 60. I have heard the term "runway" used at IBM by management referring to how much runway an older employee might have left and that an older employee does not have much runway left. I retired from IBM when I was close to full retirement again so I guess I was one of fortunate ones. I regret retiring because I love technology and I was on top of my game as far as the latest skills in my focus area and I still feel I can still run circles around the younger employees with my technical skills, work ethics, communication skills, problem solving skills, and teaming skills and that I have not lost a single step, mentally or physically. And I was never in my job for the money. I loved working with technology and companies, number one. And I loved learning. A lot of short sighted managers that manage technical employees use money as a sole motivator. Sure you want to earn a decent wage to live on but money is a temporary satisfier. I would gladly work for a much lower wage if I was challenged, learning, and enjoyed my work. I am curious for those if you who are reading these topics if you see IBM getting rid of a lot of older employees in the country in which you reside.

@2ggv Getting canned after age 60 is the reality for many companies in the US, and IBM is certainly not alone in this regard. The ugly, awful truth is that US businesses are trained from an accounting, HR and legal perspective to get the maximum economic value from their employees while paying out as little as possible. This means that social niceties like "working until retirement" and "giving the old fellow a watch and nice retirement" no longer apply.

In practice, this means that the company will hire someone and work them the maximum number of possible years before they have to pay out retirement benefits, increased medical benefits or a higher salary or both. There are automated ways of figuring this out, backed up by an army of actuaries and financial analysts. Once they reach the maximum useful lifetime, they are dismissed via the usual means (RA, PIP, whatever). It's no different than a piece of computer hardware, and both are treated in a similar fashion. (Do employees still have serial numbers rather than the more traditional "ID numbers"?)

This is why you see all the s-b stories like "I'm in my late 50s and almost retired and I just got a cancer diagnosis and now I just got RA'd". The unstated objective is to ditch the employee before the company has to pay out medical benefits (cancer treatment) or early retirement (including bridging) or anything like that. IBM has historically been self-insured when it comes to benefits. It was feasible enough when they had major cash flow, but now they are a company that is constantly short on cash. You can guess what that means.

If you’re pushing 60 and have a higher salary you’re as good as gone at IBM.

The logical path for IBM is the path that they probably won't take...stop the silo organization and combine midrange and enterprise into a common set of hardware, software and service offerings. If 1+1=2 and they can't make 1+1 work (enterprise and midrange), then it's better to have 2 (combined midrange and enterprise into a bigger pie) than just 1 (enterprise only, stripping off midrange). Even if the whole pie became just 1.5 rather than 2, that would still be better than 1. The midrange market is vast...IBM should do everything it can to claim some of that pie instead of throwing it in the trash.

If you accept that midrange is not growing, and a partnership / spinoff is not viable, then there is only one path forward if you are to remain in the midrange business. That’s to consolidate your midrange HW offerings to streamline your manufacturing and design efforts AND aggressively embrace viable cloud offerings that address most established customers around that streamlined product set. YES this is outside of IBM’s comfort zone, but if they wish to remain in the midrange, they need to adapt their offerings to combat commodity. Otherwise the writings on the wall.

@1vpt I'm skeptical that IBM can just partner with midrange as you suggest. There's nothing that customers and ISVs hate more than a platform that has no perceived future. They'll do everything to get out of it. Look at what happened with SPARC and Oracle for that one.

If IBM cannot make the numbers work in their present situation, then separating manufacturing and design won't help matters. That established customer base you speak of will just fade away...Intel will not only be "good enough" for those customers, but they can rest assured that it won't go away any time soon.

Vhb You ask what does IBM do with Midrange? Ask yourself what has IBM done with every other product that has strayed into commodity status. Yep sell it off. Again ask yourself what opportunities does midrange generate for SW group or for consulting group (answer = not much) The margins generated by midrange are far too small vs the margins generated by enterprise to continue to support investment into midrange. Because IBM has a sunk cost into midrange I would speculate that IBM will partner off midrange vs sell them off. Hello Lenovo or Dell, have we got a deal for you. If IBM is going to pursue a partnership, it has to be a win/win. What does Lenovo or Dell bring to the table? manufacturing expertise along with supply chain leverage. What does IBM bring to the table? Technology/design expertise along with established customer base. There is a win/win here, but both sides have to want it, otherwise midrange just fades away as Intel continues to be good enough.

Pushing people out with higher salaries and OTEs is discrimination

IBM always ends up getting out of every business they start. Why? Because the Execs su-k at everything and don't care at all. Watsonx will get sold like everything else at some point, the point where IBM realizes WatConx is just that, a con!

Is this happening in USA only , or other countries as well?

to @kal+1qww31CX. What about on-prem storage though. Yes, the DS range is protected within the realms of Enterprise, but what to they do with midrange storage? Not all customers see the cloud as beneficial, so there is still a market (albeit declining) for on-prem storage. Does IBM sell this off to someone, and if so, who would buy it? Or do they keep it and sell through the channel? Either way, they will be a negative shift in the workforce. Unfortunately nobody, perhaps even IBM can figure out the long term plan!

Luckily I always prep for a new job around RA time so I'm not unprepared. But damn if they don't give a sh-t about your average ibmer.

This sure seems like IBM is conceding that it was late to the cloud game and can’t catch up. Mainframe seems to be going to India for support and will remain in house. Power seems to be the odd man out, and IBM is searching for a partner to offload its cloud capabilities (I suspect Google) Intel is the lost cause (IBM can’t catch up), thus they will outsource to Amazon. The net of all of this, is approx 85% of IBM cloud support will go offshore or to a partner and IBM will embrace the partnership idea. Welcome to IBM 2024 Hybrid cloud/AI, SW modernization, and Enterprise are the remaining investment priorities, with everything else moving to sustain mode (partnerships). This isn’t necessarily bad, BUT it does say IBM NA and IBM Europe will definitely get smaller as IBM pursues the partnerships and offshoring

They can’t recruit top talent, they can’t upskill outsiders (New Collar initiative), so they’re going to try and move internal people. To the company, if you work out, great, if you don’t great.

When you ask what the timeline is, they’ll respond there’s no timeline.

When you ask what happens if you don’t find a new placement, they’ll respond we expect everybody to find something.

There certainly are positions, you’re probably not on a blacklist (whatever anybody here will say), and you can move if you want. If you don’t you’ll probably get wrapped up in the Q1 layoffs.

Your are toast... this is the latest evil scheme to get people out of IBM without to have to pay severance. Start looking for a job immediately. Sorry for you.

Another post regarding the same --
https://www.reddit.com/r/IBM/comments/191qn2p/started_business_driven_mobility/

This cost cutting strategy seems to be common practice with several companies right now. Push out experienced loyal employees that make a higher salary to save a buck with new talent.