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Steven Field (Red Hat) Speaks of "Recent Layoff" (RA/Wave) in Red Hat

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jan 27, 2026

After nearly 9 years, my chapter at Red Hat has come to an end following a recent layoff — and I’m choosing to see this as the start of an exciting new one.

Around the time we kept hearing about Red Hat layoffs there were some 'brave' [1, 2] people willing to talk about it in public, not in private.

IBM really doesn't like it when people talk about "RAs" because IBM skirts the WARN Act and prefers to implement "silent layoffs" or "forever layoffs" (a daily trickle).

Nowadays Red Hat employees experience (firsthand) this cultural defect of IBM. █

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