IBM and Microsoft Hiding Layoffs in Similar, Overlapping Ways
And there are still "forever layoffs" (that particular approach helps evade the WARN Act). Recent hours:
Like we've said several times already (about four times yesterday alone), Microsoft is not denying the layoffs. One employee in Microsoft does. The media is spreading lots of fake news or misleading news, in effect covering up for Microsoft.
Regarding Microsoft, 4 hours ago an "Anonymous" poster wrote about Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) at Microsoft: (Microsoft does this too, just like IBM does; we'll come to IBM later, even in relation to PIPs)
Performance Improvement Plans going to be handed out next week. A lot of them so Microsoft can fire people and get out of paying unemploymentThe first batch of Performance Improvement Plans goes out next week. HR defined the Performance Improvement Plans, and they have been standardized and nearly impossible to pass.
If you have a feeling you are going to get a Performance Improvement Plan next week, your hunch is probably right. Your not likely going to pass your PiP, because Microsoft HR defined them for employees to fail. The best thing you can start doing next week after being handed your Performance Improvement Plan. Is to so stop preforming any work and focus on updating your resume. On your Resume, you want to give yourself a fake Microsoft job title that makes you sound like you are really important, in fact using your Microsoft manager's job title as your own is a great idea, On your resume write boasting about all the important work you have done, knowing its total bs. Then start applying to jobs, in between watching Hulu movies while at work.
So the layoffs are coming, but just like at IBM, PIPs will be leveraged.
Speaking of IBM, yesterday we said that "IBM is in a "forever layoffs" loop" and that means IBM gets to merely pretend everything is normal.
In response to what we published last night (and the portion about "Employee Reviews") someone told us "that is Microsoft-style stack ranking, a method *KNOWN* to destroy companies; it's good for the world when Microsoft does it, but it is destroying IBM and taking Red Hat first."
"Enron used stack ranking, too," we got told. "How many 'former' Microsofters has IBM ingested?"
Take a look at "RIP Stack Ranking: Lessons from 5 Companies that Tried It". To quote: "At the center of the cultural problems was a management system called stack ranking. Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed everyone cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something that drove out untold numbers of employees."
Now they act similarly; we know Red Hat hired many managers from Microsoft. We tracked and named some of them.
Some days ago someone wrote about IBM's "2026 Organizational Changes", which led to this discussion about the site in Albany. "Are you for real?!" somebody asked some hours ago. "The Albany is most corrupt site of all of them. Didn’t one of the main guys go to jail?"
The more interesting (and recent) comments concern the above-mentioned "Employee Reviews" and Microsoft-style stack ranking.
"In the past," someone explained, "employee reviews were treated at least partly as a way to identify high performers for raise/promotion and to provide meaningful feedback to all. Now they're nothing more than a way to identify which employees to select for the next round of RAs."
"It’s not even that," someone else wrote. "Look at the last RA—most of the people affected were high performers. This isn’t about performance. It’s an artificial pretense to eliminate people. It isn’t real, but it gives leadership something to point to when justifying why someone was let go [...] All of a sudden high performers will be in bottom 15% magically. It just something to cover their asss and say well last review you scored low. Even trying to battle against that low score with data and facts are pointless. Their minds are made up. We all know it’s bullsh-t"
About Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs):
"When ranked low performer you automatically go on coaching plan or PIP which is different than past (where we had growth opportunity and it was manager discretion whether to do a coaching plan or PIP) [...]"
And "even that is fake," said another comment. "High performers will be placed on these programs to go through the motions. They never deserved to be on them in the first place. But it does give leadership something to point too and say well since you were on this you are gone! But it makes no sense that they were on it first place."
The latest comment said: "Two factors about this year: 1) High pay employees rating will be low, justification being you should should have done more based on your level even though work opportunities was not provided to meet that requirement; 2) I wonder if those placed on PIP shows what direction the company taking with WOKE."
That's what PIPs lead to.
11 minutes ago someone added: "IBM reviews are an exercise who is worthy enough to get the scraps that are annual increases…more demotivating than motivating. RA’s have nothing to do with performance for the most part, especially when whole groups are eliminated".
"This company is going to disappear in bankruptcy. It is obsolete and on the way to its grave," said another new comment, alluding to IBM.
So what we have here are two large companies using PIPs and trying to hide just how large-scale the layoffs really are. █