The RTO (Return-to-office) Layoffs or 'Soft' Layoffs at IBM and Red Hat
THERE is this new article that says "IBM under fire as return-to-office order suspected of replacing human staff with [buzzwords]" and it's cited in this thread that adds: "U.S. F&O resources informed to relocate to RTP or Poughkeepsie or get the heck out."
"The talk about AI capabilities is overblown," a reply quips. "I did multiple attempts to try IBM flavor of LLM (AI). It is pure nonsense. As far as I am concerned, I will not trust any provided results by IBM AI. Internal channels are flooded with complaints about IBM AI HR, benefits, payroll..."
From the article in question:
The Finance and Operations business unit of the American tech giant IBM has now implemented a revised return-to-office policy amid what is being called a “soft layoff.”Employees were reportedly informed that they would need to move closer to the company’s offices in North Carolina or New York to meet the new office-working requirement. Depending on their length of service with IBM, employees who choose not to relocate will be offered a severance package worth up to six months.
“Managers are being instructed to reach out to their direct reports and ask that they relocate to Raleigh, North Carolina, or Poughkeepsie, New York. They must be within 50 miles of one of these sites. If not, they will be offered severance,” a spokesperson told The Register.
Layoffs in "RTO" clothing seem like an ongoing strategy and hours ago this was brought up in relation to Red Hat's management: "It is nothing short of hilarious to read that Sarwar Raza, vice president and general manager of the middleware business at Red Hat, lives in Massachusetts while the rest of the Red Hat Team is in Raleigh. Did Sarwar get special dispensation from Alvind, Krabanaugh or the Pope (or all three) to avoid the colocation order that everyone else at IBM has to follow ? From the name, Mr. Raza seems to be another South Asian like Alvind. What is also interesting is that the CEO of Red Hat, Jim Hicks is also based in the Boston area. Are the Red Hat management team trying to defect from Red Hat in light of future IBM layoffs ?? Alvind insists on his $100 million bonus for 2025 by hook or by crook - yes, we all know he is a crook."
IBM "CEO has been told by the board to replace all expensive dinosaurs from high cost areas, or he would lose his own lucrative job," somebody said in this other thread and IBM layoffs in Canada are being brought up again: "Please share what you can. Last day, duration of notice, amount of severance, business unit, others that you know are affected."
A few hours ago someone posted: "I know someone who got RA’d with over 30 years. He got only 4 months severance... Alvind and his SlipMunks are greedy..."
There are certainly many layoffs going on there, but many are described as "resignations" or "retirements" after RTO or some other form of relocation. █