It's Friday Again and Many People Leave IBM for Good (IBM Should be Reported for Illegal NDAs That Hide Layoffs)
From the past hour or so: (notice how the words used are 100% identical, complete with gratitude)
It's like they copy-pasted one another. See: IBM Layoffs: It's Like They Read From a Script, Like They've Signed a Non-Disparagement Agreement/Clause
Having written a lot about NDAs (as in, Non-Disparagement Agreements, not the other "NDA"), based on IBM insiders*, we can speculate that many of those workers who say they leave IBM and then cockily express gratitude are shadowed and/or 'green-lit' by HR (or similar). They try to control the message and severance is the carrot on a long stick; we very seldom see anyone deviating a lot from the "template-like" narrative, let alone mentioning "layoffs" or "RA" or some other term that implies non-consensual departure.
Americans need to report this to their regulators**.
Has IBM mastered narrative manipulation of this class?
As we noted earlier today, 1-2 hours earlier another man announced he was leaving IBM, with these opening words: "Today marks my last day at IBM."
One hour later: "Today marks my last working day at IBM."
An hour passes (30 minutes ago): "Today marks my last working day at IBM"
Identical except the full stop.
Is this all just a coincidence?
Are those people like puppets on the same stick of the same palm with 5 fingers? █
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* As a Techrights associate keeps reminding us, such NDAs are very likely illegal in most US states (we covered that precedence in relation to Microsoft years ago). "Can you link to court decisions showing that non-disparagement clauses cannot be a pre-requisite for severance pay?"
After debating this internally at Techrights we came up with related and very recent articles:
- IBM Forces Staff to Sign an NDA If They Want Severance Package, in Effect Bribing Them or Denying Them Money They're Entitled to If They 'Disparage' IBM
- Claims That PIPs Are Abused for Silent Mass Layoffs at IBM (Without Severance) or Forced Retirements
- What IBM Does Is Clearly Illegal in the US: Tying Severance Packages to NDAs (Non-Disparagement Agreement/Clause)
Here's a precedent for (or from) California:
And for some odd definitions of "enhanced", an associate notes, this may apply: "...as conditions for receiving enhanced compensation or benefits upon departure"
"These post-employment restrictions often carry more negotiating leverage for employees..."
Those are also known as "gag orders":
This is for Washington (the state):
And that's the one from NLRB (national government), as well as The Federal Register:
** "Former IBM employees could 1) ignore the gag clauses and 2) report IBM for it," argues our associate.