Mass Layoffs at IBM, Also Outsourcing to India
Based on numerous comments, it looks like this year's major "RA" (mass layoffs) happened some time this week, as many predicted months ago based on various patterns and last year's dates (the same as last year was planned for this year).
What IBM does to itself it is doing to other entities as well.
Published less than a day ago at The Register MS:
6 hours ago: "RA announced today [...] Today, a Resource Action was announced within the CIO organization, targeting a 40% workforce reduction across the US, Mexico, and Brazil—the usual corporate routine..."
Colleagues seem to be confirming this. After many PIP passes IBM drops the guillotine:
More: (on the stock too)
IBM Common Stock did not crash, but it is down 5% in the past 5 days.
"IBM announced RA today," someone added in thelayoff.com.
The age of the account need not matter and some insiders in comments observed similar cuts. So the disbelief is unwarranted. As noted in the latest comments there, RAs aren't announced by IBM. Sometimes (like a year ago) the media asks IBM about it, then IBM is either silent or confirms (while grossly low-balling the numbers).
RAs are like a "sweep-up" phase after a ton of PIPs already compel workers to 'voluntarily' leave or be dismissed with a "performance" pretext. Consider this fresh thread about PIPs.
"The RA cycle is a way for them to push out the PIP survivors," it said. "I was PIPed. Absolutely crushed my PIP. Then RA'd during the following RA event. The RA cycle is a way for them to push out the PIP survivors. Unless you have a very strong network of lifelines in other parts of the company you are done at IBM."
The comments there are long and informative. The first one says: "People need to understand - if you somehow survive a PIP you are a marked man, if you get RA'ed and find a new role at IBM in time you are a marked man, if you get flagged with a low performance indicator during your review you are a marked man. You can dodge for awhile if you're lucky, but they are coming for you and will get you eventually. The headcount reduction targets in the western world (really the entire world outside India) are relentless."
"1 person PIP’ed in US = 6 persons hired in India," someone added later.
The next one: "Exactly. If you were put on a PIP you are already targeted. The PIP really had not much to do with your performance if anything. It was just a way to get you to quit. Demoralize you a little bit, then give you an unattainable goal to reach. Try to frustrate you and burn you out so you would leave on your own. I’ve seen it happen on more than one occasion when I was at IBM. It happened to a good friend of mine when I was working at the company. Moral of the story is if you get put on a PIP, start looking. You’ll be showing the door sooner or later. Probably sooner. Good luck to all you still waiting for the next RA. I spent 18 years there. I left on my own two years ago . One of the best things I ever did . It’s really an awful company the way they treat their employees now."
The longest and most detailed comments is very informative: "Former IBM'er here. I went through this process last year. Top performer for years, but my number came up and they manufactured a "performance" reason. They're REALLY good at this and know how to avoid lawsuits. If you're put on a PIP, don't quit. Let them fire you. PIPs (in the USA at least at the time I was let go) come with 30 days severance and a set amount of subsidized COBRA depending on your years of service. 3 months COBRA for under 5 years. 6 months for 5-25 years. After that time expires, health care under COBRA goes to full price. Dental and Vision under COBRA is not subsidized but are only slightly more expensive than what you paid out of your paycheck. When I say medical is "subsidized" I mean that you will pay out of pocket monthly (you will get an invoice) what you currently pay for medical from your paycheck (again this is in the US). You also are eligible for unemployment since they "fired" you for "performance" - which we all know is BS but IBM doesnt care. None of this is stellar, but its better than if you quit. If you quit, you get none of that. So during your PIP - unless you really believe that IBM cares about your success (they dont), fake it while you concentrate on job hunting. Use that 60 or 90 day period as pay severance time to work on leaving IBM. Have ChatGPT, Claude, or some other non-IBM AI help you with any daily/weekly updates you need to provide. Dont spend energy on it yourself if you can help it. Do what IBM does to you - pretend as if you care. Because bottom line - IBM will fire you the same day they inform you that your performance is suffering if they feel they can come up with a good backstory and justify it without being sued. If they dont fire you same day, they will more likely fire you at the end of your PIP - especially this year since your esteemed CEO stepped in his own dogsht that spewed from his mouth and exposed IBM for the fraud that it is. On your liberation day, they will force your first line manager to do their dirty work. Don't blame your FLM - they are doing this under threat of their own job. This is the sad reality of the company your work for. When it happened to me, I was shocked and upset. I struggled for several months, but Im in a better position now. I took a job with slightly less pay, but all that stress and anxiety I used to get from Sunday afternoon to 3pm Friday is gone. In fact, the first week after I was let go - when I had no job and wasn't sure yet how I was going to survive, I STILL felt like the weight of the world was just removed from my shoulders. IBM executives are toxic, terrible human beings...ALL of them. They care about one thing - their own paychecks. They do not at all care about you. You are a number on a spreadsheet and a "necessary inconvenience" to them. If you're PIP'ed and fired from that cesspool, it may not seem it at the time and you may struggle financially for awhile, but it will be one of the best things that ever happen to you and your career. Good luck to all of you, and I hope you all find something outside of that has-been joke of a tech company."
RAs or not, the actual term may not matter; IBM is shrinking and outsourcing. Look what it did with Anderon. █