Do the mainframe business units get hit for layoffs pretty often?
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It might help the discussion to define more precisely what the "mainframe business units" are. If we limit the discussion to "System Z" (as opposed to Power) then we have various staff positions in different divisions and different locations:
Research
Hardware Engineering, Integration and Test
Hardware Manufacturing
Software Development (z/OS, z/VM, DB2, CICS, IMS, z/TPF, MQ)
Software Integration and Test
Sales and Marketing
Consulting and Services
Whoever writes those Redbooks in Gaithersburg (if it's still around)
Administration, Finance and "other stuff"
A lot of these positions have skills overlap...I've seen movement between DB2 on z/OS (San Jose) and DB2 UDB (or whatever the Toronto lab calls it now). It's the same story for a lot of positions. Individual business cases determine who gets the axe.
The issue is Z is not growing, BUT it’s really not shrinking either. It has shrunk in the past, but if you haven’t migrated off of Z by now, you most likely will not. THUS Z is staffed by very experienced and skilled staff and when one leaves, they usually backfill. The problem is they usually backfill the departing skill with a person in an offshore location. NOTE the reason other brands continue to downsize is they continue to shrink Unix is going to Linux on Intel at a double digit rate, and system I is going to Linux ISV solutions on Intel at a single digit rate. Overall IBM would love to partner off Power ISV solutions to a lower cost overhead supplier, as long as they get to keep the very large Power ISV solutions (eg SAP, Oracle, and a couple of others) NOTE it’s not a matter of if, but rather a matter of when. Power is shrinking at the expense of Intel and LINUX, and IBM’s high overhead and mainframe focus makes small and midrange power disposable.
Not compared to other divisions. MF skills are deep, take years to specialize and are viewed as critical to the success by brand leadership. MF leaders understand and value these resources. When the hits happen, they tend to be sparked outside the MF business lines and get pushed in. Very sad. Especially when IBM MF is the most profitable division in IBM Infrastructure and continue to grown beyond expectation.
Historically Z-series has been more stable than P-series. Both have a regular cadence of new chips/systems.
I was in Z for the last 15 years of my carear but finally didm get "surplused" in Nov 2022.
Only when they decide to move mfg to the next cheaper host country