I come to this board from time to time and I see a lot of debate about various subjects related to the company, but very little or none talk about actual layoffs happening. Does that mean that non happened recently? Is that even possible at IBM?
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In my division we've had many months of "Stealth Layoffs", i.e. no backfills for attrition. It's cheap and easy for management, and allows them to avoid making actual decisions based on needs and performance. But also obviously completely stupid in strategic terms: if the state of business really does require lower headcount costs, it's management's job to make the hard decisions on who to keep and who to let go.
When I left IBM , the only people running the show held meetings for hours going over fancy charts and talking points . It was ridiculous and I wondered if the company left all of them go , would the business still run .... absolutely. IBMhas plenty of fat to trim but the only problem is , they are now into the prime cuts of meat .
Oh please. There’s plenty of excess fat at ibm. It’s all in middle to upper management, yet they never touch them. There’s probably more manager there than they are regular workers.
How could there be anymore layoffs? May be some divestirures which would reduce the number of employees, but not layoffs., at least not at the bottom. IBM has already cut to the bone the people who are actually bringing in the revenues. As an example the various Lab Services teams have been cut to the bone to the point that we no longer have enough people to respond to customer needs!! Some teams have been begging to hire more people but Ginni and her useless team of managers keep on saying no. This is one more evidence that the so called leaders of this company don't get it or their agenda is to completely destroy this company.
Ginni has to be a 4 performer. If this was me , based on what she is doing over the last few days , I would have be given a plan to improve and then an exit date. We all know why they keep her , token .....
Mostly managers and staff left at many locations. Hand picked people so it will be interesting to see who will stay and who will go . You have to pay the piper someday.
This board is drying up bc no one left st IBM cares anymore. It’s just OVER.
@1kat assumes IBM will pay its staff better. Seven years of below CoL pay rises plus $100 bonuses show they will never return to fair pay for high quality staff. Ginni has k--led innovation. Any sane tech CEO would feel remorse for what she’s done to the workforce.
It will be closures rather than layoffs. It's an easier argument to close aging plants they haven't hired for in years than to trim across the board 50+
Gianni is looking really bad these days. Lots of terrible movies on her part plus Karma for all the people she outsourced or got layoffs. It’s only a matter of time before she steps aside, how long can one have no agendas and step all ovythe backs of generations of hard working people.
There are two ways to create profit in the services business.
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Have a lower paid labor force who makes a small profit on every transaction, using BAU tools. This model is the McDonalds model. It’s the model that most outsourcers have standardized on. The more volume you do, the more money you make. Call it a sweat equity Business model.
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Have a higher paid labor force who makes a larger profit on every transaction due to using leading bleed edge tools. Call it an innovation Business model
IBM is going to keep the innovation business model, and spinoff, sell, or joint venture off the Sweat equity model. The split will go 60/40
India companies will pick up a good part of IBMs businesses this year . They are already doing work today with improved output and much lower pay. Legacy products and services will go . Americans will train and then will be asked to leave.
@1vzb can confirm GBS/GTS merger will complete within this year, with announcement by end of 1H. Low margin GTS businesses (TSS, SO) to be sold. This information came to me from several credible sources.
Haven’t you noticed that in the wake of the reorg, all new or open leadership positions in GBS are filled by either outside hires or GTS staff? We see no GBS in-line promotions anymore.
For all legacy PWC staff who are still around (like myself) this marks the death of any real consulting work at IBM that remained. Sad to see that 20 years on they destroyed our client relationships, reduced our day rates to nothing, eliminated our margins, and destroyed our credibility in the market.
There is still rumor of GBS and GTS merger been work out behind the scene .It will occur before end of this year. May be last Q1 big layoff did not occurred as combine list is building before big announcement.
Layoffs are coming, just be patient. After the disaster of Q1, IBM is building the lists...
I asked my Indian contact, who I was training to take my job , who T J Watson was , he replied “ A golfer “...... Signs of the times .