Layoffs at IBM

[mickj]

Just hoping I don't get laid off, the latest news is pretty scary. At least I don't work for IBM in Europe.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...=/nm/20050505/bs_nm/tech_ibm_restructuring_dc

 

[KB]

I work for IBM as well. My account is required by the customer to be 45% GR by June and 50% GR by end of year. Even though we have too much work on our plate, I would not be too surprised to be let go also. I am shifting to 3 days a week mid May, so wouldn't be surprised if I'm on the hit list.

I'm prepared if it happens....

 

[BUM]

I'm waiting to see what info today's Poughkeepsie Journal might have. Scuttlebut around the plant is "If your job doesnt produce revenue - worry."

 

[soupcxan]

Well then, I guess they can let the majority of the middle management go.

Scuttlebut around the plant is "If your job doesnt produce revenue - worry."

 

[KB]

The word I'm getting is that the layoffs on my account are coming today. 
Pretty quick.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm waiting to see what info today's Poughkeepsie Journal might have. Scuttlebut around the plant is "If your job doesnt produce revenue - worry."

Advice I used to give people signing up with a company was to find out what the companies core business was and make sure their job involved making or delivering that.

If it takes you more than a few words to describe how you facilitate the core product or service, you're in trouble.

Good luck folks...

 

[mickj]

KB, let me know if you hear anything else. I will do the same. (you too BUM)

 

[KB]

Rumor has it that 4 people were given their 30 day notice to find another position within IBM or they will have a severance package handed to them. There are around 200 people on my account. I was not affected. We're quite spread out within the US and India so there may be more news tomorrow.

 

[laurence]

Ug, good luck KB. My friend worked for Cerfnett/AT&T, survived three rounds of layoffs and got nailed on the fourth. I guess they do it in waves to make sure things don't fall apart. Dust settles, the make sure the trains are still running, then let another group go. Any word on the severance packages? My friend got a few months paid vacation to work on his resume and interview.

What get's me is how do they choose who to lay off? He was a superstar, doing work way above his pay grade, really a bargain to the company considering his technical lead duties and how many accounts he supported.

 

[KB]

No word on the severance package yet. I will start working 3 days a week instead of full time later this month and thought I might be easier to get rid of. I was kind of hopeful actually.....

 

[KB]

We're up to 13 people laid off.

Any one else affected?

 

[KB]

Final number is 15. All given their 30 day notice yesterday. So all the writeoffs will occur within this quarter.

Anybody else have layoffs on their account?

 

[mickj]

I haven't heard of any yet.

 

[ganda]

I used to work at the Hursley lab in England. Do you know what's happening there, since the layoffs are focused on Europe? I can imagine the bean counters seeing that place as a good target, it's far too nice a facility to waste on R&D engineers. They might get rid of the onsite pub and cricket pitch

 

[BUM]

Heard 6 were laid off in the MHV. East Fishkill's "booming on paper" with plans to build SONY chips. Sky cranes are moving on site.... a very good sign.

Th reminded me how far away it possible to get from core businesses. One of my old habits while travelling was to dip into the omnipresent fishbowl at the hotel front desk and pull out all the IBM biz cards. The titles were often so vague and redundant that they were very funny. Probably like government jobs. I'll never forget the card from an Armonk guy. It simply read: (name changed to protect useless managers)

Joe Blow
Corporate Information, Corporate Information

KB I like your position of being prepared. Others might take a lesson there. The best defense is a prepared ER plan!


BUM

 

[laurence]

Well, to those of you with IBM and anyone else for that matter, let me know if you are interested in working for a government contractor-pretty competitive wages, 75% up to 6% of salary 401(k) match, pension vested after 5 years, yadda yadda(if you can afford to not work congrats and disregard!). We have locations all over and if you are a programmer, software engineer, system administrator, or computer security I could probably hook you up. Just message me and I'll tell you what we have open in your area. Good luck, people!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

One of my old habits while travelling was to dip into the omnipresent fishbowl at the hotel front desk and pull out all the IBM biz cards.

Ha ha...I used to do something similar when I was in sales...we had a really expensive fru-fru burger place near my office, about ten bucks for a burger (this was in the mid 80's, inflation adjust that) that had a fishbowl in the front; you put in your business card for a drawing for a free lunch. You really only got people with some bucks in their pockets eating there.

I ate there every day, would hang back behind a largish group of people, and while the hostess was seating them I'd rifle through the business cards looking for potential customers. I'd call them up and confess that I saw their card 'sitting on top of the pile' and that I'd give them a free lunch at that place without the raffle odds in exchange for telling me about their company.

90% of the folks went for it; about half ended up buying something from me.

 

[laurence]

Great story, TH! I always wondered what the angle was for those business card raffles, you created one most businesses would never have thought of. Now I just need to open a diner.....

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Fun part was, I could gauge exactly what kind of customer they were going to be like as a function of how they reacted. If they were really amused and cool with it, they were going to be a good customer. If they were a little pissy about it, they werent going to be a lot of fun. Anyone who was mad but jumped at the free lunch...a cheapo.

Makes sense, you're surprising someone with an unusual but actually beneficial situation/proposition. The root of it is you're fulfilling their wish for a free lunch, just not in the way they anticipated. Their reaction to that situation can be very telling...

Since these were also business lunches, I also got to eat a lot of those hideously expensive burgers for free. And my boss (who worked out of another state) thought I was quite godlike in my ability to line up a new prospective customer for lunch almost every day.

 

[Caroline]

Well, this thread will teach me to take a few days off. Sorry I missed it, being as I'm yet another IBM minion.

I've known about the Europe layoffs for a while now, but what about the ones you're all reporting here? Are they all in the U.S.? What general job types / divisions? What packages?

Thanks for any info. I've heard nothing on my end -- software marketing -- but rumors abound, as always.

Best of luck to the rest of you IBMers -- hope it goes the way you want it to, whatever that is.
Caroline

 

[KB]

The layoffs I reported are all in the US and no info on the packages. The people were given 30 days to find another position within IBM or they get the package. All were band 7-9 and Information Analysts or Team leader positions as far as I know.

Since I don't know any of the people very well, I really didn't want to call and ask what the package was. There might have been higher on my account since we have GR percentages to meet, mandates from the customer. Or maybe it wasn't related to the announcement, and they took this opportunity to lower the US percentage thus increasing the GR percentage. Who knows....

I'm sorry I didn't get the offer. I'm thinking of quitting soon even though I start working 3 days a week next week.

 

[BUM]

Th

I thought I was the only one who dipped into the fishbowl. Did you get <those looks>? Like you were committing adultry HA! Its a frickin biz card in a bowl. Corporate confidentiality requires that business travellers keep a low profile, but a free burger is a free burger! That tickles some old brain cells.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I confess I did both, i.e. I always dropped my card in the bowl
and frequently mined the bowl for possible customers.

JG

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Better...I got caught by the hostess once, who was mad until I explained what I was doing. Dated her for almost 7 months. She fished the bowl for me after that. Saved me a lot of time and a lot of cholesterol.

Anyone else "caught" me, I'd just smile at them and nod, and continue about my business.

 

[BUM]

Better...I got caught by the hostess once, who was mad until I explained what I was doing. Dated her for almost 7 months. She fished the bowl for me after that.

As dey say in da bronx, "Oh you c-man!"