7 ms·

IBM announces plan to hire 25K ahead of Trump meeting

52 points by randomname2 10y ago

DoofusOfDeath 10y ago
IBM is a Silicon Valley company? I thought they were headquartered in some combination of Armonk, NY and whatever country has the cheapest workers that week.
- noahdesu 10y ago
  They have a top research facility in San Jose (Almaden), among many others in the US and around the world. I'm not familiar with where the bulk of their workforce is located, or if it is highly distributed.
- gph 10y ago
  Silicon Valley has become a general reference to the Tech industry the same way Wall Street is for the Finance industry. That's just the way it is in the public consciousness now, no point in fighting it too much.
wmccullough 10y ago
You mean the same company that this year, laid off over 20,000 positions? Get the hell out IBM, you're acting like a bunch of sycophants. P.S. Bluemix is bad and you should feel bad. EDIT: I normally try to approach my commenting with a rational calm way, but I can't, not with I.B-fucking.-M.
- shakna 10y ago
  Can any of us approach the behemoth calmly? It seems that wherever I go, everyone has something terrible to say about them, but they still keep getting huge contracts that they fail to deliver on. Is there someone here who can reasonably explain why they like IBM? Because I can't understand it. And I congratulate Queensland, Australia for banning future contracts with them for the next fifty years. (QLD can't contract to them for 50 years).
  - alex_anglin 10y ago
    I'm certainly not an IBM customer, but I recognize that they have a very strong sales force. Relationships with management level IT folks and lots of golf games/schmoozing is probably one of their main competitive advantages.
  - krona 10y ago
    No CTO ever got fired for buying IBM.
    - mattsmith321 10y ago
      That is what I was coming to post.
    - randcraw 10y ago
      No longer true. When IBM borked the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control software upgrade (1993), they very publicly lost the contract and many heads rolled. Mitre (their very stable FFRDC) lost a third of their FAA support staff in the blood-letting that ensued. IMHO, the only remaining golden boys of business are consultants like Bain and BCG, who tell the C-suiters what to think. Of course, the great secret is that these opt-shops will be the first companies to be fully automated, but invisibly. Then for decades thereafter, human CEOs will blithely continue to follow the lead of their precious Bain-bots, not realizing they've become a bot too (which they always were, of course).
    - user5994461 10y ago
      Pretty sure buying IBM in 2017 is a good way to get fired ^^
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > It seems that wherever I go, everyone has something terrible to say about them, but they still keep getting huge contracts that they fail to deliver on. Like many businesses that thrive on enterprise, and particularly government, contracts, IBM's key competitive strength is in knowledge of an expertise in navigating and manipulating the relevant contracting processes.
- samtho 10y ago
  IBM employed roughly 378,000 people in 2015[1] and the actual number laid-off is closer to 14,000[2]. This represents 3.7% of the workforce. While layoffs are never great, most of these were from legacy systems as they have been attempting to hire 25,000 since that was announced[3]. IBM is a very large company and employs a great number of people. They have been transitioning from a hardware company to a services company and thus, many workers who specialized only in the older tech will be let go. I cannot speak for everyone, but (AFAIK) they were given opportunity to move elsewhere in the company. To put the layoffs in context, Cisco is expected to lay off 14,000 workers (nearly 20% of its workforce), Walmart is laying off 17,500, and Seagate is laying off 8,100 by 2017 - 15.5% of its 2015 workforce[4]. 1: http://www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM_Annual_Report_2015.pdf http://www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM_Annual_Report_2015.p... 2: http://www.wsj.com/articles/ibm-layoffs-continue-1463784692 http://www.wsj.com/articles/ibm-layoffs-continue-1463784692 3: http://fortune.com/2016/05/20/ibm-layoff-employees-may/ http://fortune.com/2016/05/20/ibm-layoff-employees-may/ 4: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/08/19/12-companies-laying-off-the-most-workers/ http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/08/19/12-companies-...
  - wmccullough 10y ago
    Thank you for informing me.
  - noobermin 10y ago
    You probably intended this to be obvious since it's in your profile, but you should disclose here too that you work for IBM.
  - raverbashing 10y ago
    Of those 370k how many are warm bodies for "contract service positions" and how many are paper pushers?
    - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
      Why does it matter?
- Spooky23 10y ago
  Of course its IBM bullshit. They get to tie hiring they needed anyway to some incentive that they will be negotiate. They have an effective methodology for holding governments hostage and this is no different. You cannot blame IBM... they are making the noises that pandering politicians want to hear and driving value for their shareholders.
- princetontiger 10y ago
  Glad that someone posted this. I tried to use Bluemix to prototype some stock market AI thing... I spent a few weekend nights playing with it. Frankly, I didn't find Bluemix or Watson any more capable than myself. Of course, I then received several emails from sales reps.
- solotronics 10y ago
  IBM is pivoting towards cloud so they let go a lot of people associated with legacy projects. Bluemix happens to be great. We have had an excellent experience with them.
  - athenot 10y ago
    Pretty heavy Blumix and AWS user here. Honest question: what do you feel is great about Blumix and what is the main differentiator? Except for the fact that they have bare metal in their offering, I haven't been impressed with them.
    - blakesterz 10y ago
      I can't tell if you're talking about SoftLayer or Bluemix or are they the same thing now? I feel like a confused old man suddenly because I thought Bluemix was a thing and now it's SoftLayer I thought, but maybe it's still that other thing?
      - athenot 10y ago
        I'm thinking of SoftLayer (now branded as Bluemix).
- meira 10y ago
  I got banned by commenting like this
hellogoodbyeeee 10y ago
What does the term "new collar" mean? I understand the distinction between blue and white, but i don't get what could be new
- wmccullough 10y ago
  I don't get this either. Blue and White collar workers haven't gone anywhere. They've been sitting here for years terrified that their jobs would go away. Let us not forget that IBM just eliminated 20,000+ jobs just this year.
- qntty 10y ago
  Looks like a term for white collar workers that they want to treat like service workers
- steverb 10y ago
  Judging from the context, I suspect it mean hiring former blue collar people to fill what would traditionally be professional roles (IT). Basically, they laid off a bunch of expensive, educated and experienced people and are now looking to backfill the areas they cut too deeply in with cheap labor that they can boot camp to a minimum level of proficiency and then charge the same prices for.
  - tyingq 10y ago
    >with cheap labor that they can boot camp to a minimum level of proficiency That does indeed seem to be the case. There's a Huff Post article where IBM execs talk about their pilot program that's tied to this "new collar" business: According to an interview with an IBM official, “The objective is to prepare students for entry-level technology jobs paying around $40,000 a year"[1] [1]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/what-does-the-p-in-ptech-_b_6244690.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/what-does-the-p-in...
- tyingq 10y ago
  She ties the term "new collar" to vocational training versus college degrees. I suppose the cynical view is that they are trying to shift jobs that are currently held by expensive, degreed, employees...to fresh, cheap, vocational school grads. Edit: The letter she wrote to Trump outlining what "new collar" means: http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2016/11/15/IBM_LETTER_PG1.png http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/201...
tyingq 10y ago
"CEO Ginni Rometty announced that the new jobs will come over the span of four years" That's roughly 6000 per year. I'm curious what the definition of "new jobs" is. Since they have 300,000+ employees, I would think they already hire 6000+ a year just to cover natural turnover.
- RA_Fisher 10y ago
  I wondered the same thing, but I believe the announcement is more intended to curry favor with Trump.
- user5994461 10y ago
  Basically, that's about it. Announce turnover as if it were new hires.
Edward16 10y ago
You need a savvy hacker,one who specializes in Expunging Criminal Records and Change of University Grades. Contact edwardsnowcare@gmail.com One who would be able to carry out and successfully execute hacks on your behalf while keeping it all discrete and under the radar.
GrinningFool 10y ago
The conclusion of the article: > Rometty, the sole Silicon Valley leader on the advisory > council, may be trying to show Trump that IBM is working > to keep jobs inside the country. Is directly at odds with the implications of the CEO's words in the same article (emphasis added): > We are hiring because the nature of work is evolving – > and that is also why so many of these jobs remain hard to fill That reads a lot like the language used by $everyone to convince legislators that more H1B visas are required. In addition, I saw nothing in the statement that indicated the hiring would be in the US, or of US citizens.
- djb_hackernews 10y ago
  Exactly. And where is Trumps plan to meet with organizations that represent the interests of the American tech worker? All these executives see is the bottom line, and to them it looks like a bunch of overpaid nerds and there is a nice solution to that problem and all they have to do is repeat over and over "we can't find the skills we need". They've done a fantastic job of all getting on the same page, I just wish the american tech worker did the same to at least counterbalance their narrative.
satysin 10y ago
Wtf is "new collar"? Some bullshit IBM-talk for hiring back the 20k skilled workers they fired earlier this year for less money/benefits?
- tyingq 10y ago
  If you search around for other places where she uses the term, it means jobs that require only vocational training. Handy that these "new collar" workers will be less expensive, right? Edit: The letter she wrote to Trump outlining what "new collar" means: http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2016/11/15/IBM_LETTER_PG1.png http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/201...
  - virmundi 10y ago
    Do we know that those new collar jobs will be less paid? In the resource you linked, security and data analysts are included. The could be vocational. They could be degree bearing. They could be advanced degree bearing. If they are paid less, it's probably do ease of entry.
    - tyingq 10y ago
      I posted a link in another comment in this thread that gives some idea. Their pilot program (6 year high schools) is targeting entry level jobs that pay $40k/year. They are definitely not degreed. I can't, of course, prove that this is displacing a job with a higher entry level salary, though I highly suspect it is. If it were a normal white collar opportunity, why call it new collar? That term obviously implies she's trying to shoehorn something in-between blue collar / white collar. Edit: I assume the $40k jobs are mostly in New York State, since the pilot school is in Brooklyn. I have no idea if $40k is a reasonable salary for say, Poughkeepsie.
      - virmundi 10y ago
        I think a lot of tech jobs are vocational. I know they don't require a college degree. I have one. I'm good at what I do. I've worked with several people who didn't have one, only a HS diploma, and they were good. This is part of the meritocracy that is tech. As to the entry level. While that is low from a SF perspective, in Florida, that's pretty good, especially in a semi-rural area. If IBM is putting data centers and the like in similar areas, the price for the employee is a good fit. Edit: don't get me wrong. I'm not a huge fan of IBM. I have a love/hate relationship (15000 red book pages under my belt). I also call their self-checkouts Nazi Clerks given their past.
randomname2 10y ago
Besides IBM's Ginni Rometty, the list of tech execs due to meet the President-elect today includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Facebook COO Sheryl Sanddberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Oracle CEO Safra Catz and Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins. [1] List of "invited, but not going": Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (currently out of the country), Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield. [2] Announced a few minutes ago however is that Travis Kalanick and SpaceX's Elon Musk are due to become members of the Presidential advisory council. [3] [1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-top-tech-executives-larry-page-tim-cook-sheryl-sandberg-to-attend-summit-at-trump-tower/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-top-tech-executives-larry... [2] http://www.recode.net/2016/12/10/13908492/trump-tech-summit-tim-cook-apple-larry-page-google-sheryl-sandberg-facebook-nadella-microsoft http://www.recode.net/2016/12/10/13908492/trump-tech-summit-... [3] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-forum-idUSKBN1431KU http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-forum-idUSKBN143...
- puranjay 10y ago
  I don't see a Zuck. What gives?
  - mattkrea 10y ago
    Because their COO is there instead.
wyldfire 10y ago
Note that it's the announcement that's "ahead of the meeting," not the actual hiring.
- __derek__ 10y ago
  Yeah, the structure of the sentence tripped me up. I get that headline-writers sometimes get teased for their dependent clauses, but they do serve a purpose.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
reqres 10y ago
Given Trump's propensity to publicly denounce individual organisations, including threats of withdrawing government business, it's hardly surprising that companies are now lining up to court Trump's favour in the same vein as Carrier. The only thing that does surprise is just how quickly companies are adapting to the new game and lining up to present King Trump some kind of offering. The most recent Economist cover story provides some interesting perspective on this http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21711314-president-elect-has-new-approach-dealing-corporate-america-it-not-all-good http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21711314-president-ele...
- djb_hackernews 10y ago
  Indeed. My bet is they will announce a "great deal" that will "create 1000's of tech jobs" and all the Trump had to give up was an increase to the H1B cap, another OPT extension and maybe even a tax break.
- ams6110 10y ago
  If you've read his books you know that this is how he negotiates.
noobermin 10y ago
I think the "ahead of Trump meeting" makes what is effectively almost a tech story into a political one.
Dowwie 10y ago
To give some perspective on IBM's contracting relationship with the various agencies of the US government, here is a broad search: https://www.usaspending.gov/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx?sub=y&ST=C,G,L,O&FY=2017,2016,2015,2014,2013,2012,2011,2010,2009,2008&A=0&SS=USA&RN=international%20business%20machine https://www.usaspending.gov/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx?sub=y&...
user5994461 10y ago
Quick question: What is IBM doing and selling nowadays? Did they become a consultancy or something? They have 300k employees. That's a lot for a company I thought was dying.
- dplgk 10y ago
  http://www.geek.com/apps/tsa-paid-1-4-million-for-randomizer-app-that-chooses-left-or-right-1651337/ http://www.geek.com/apps/tsa-paid-1-4-million-for-randomizer...
howderek 10y ago
I don't trust this at all. IBM promised to create jobs in my town (Columbia, MO) in order to receive tax credits, and after they received those tax credits, they cut their workforce. The city has since suspended those tax credits. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I see this as nothing more than a facade to gain leverage with Trump. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/ibm-s-columbia-employment-numbers-drop-again/article_6b5f6867-dd99-5c44-b401-cc4ec7e2d7dd.html http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/ibm-s-columbia-emp...

52 points by randomname2 10y ago

IBM is a Silicon Valley company? I thought they were headquartered in some combination of Armonk, NY and whatever country has the cheapest workers that week.

noahdesu 10y ago
They have a top research facility in San Jose (Almaden), among many others in the US and around the world. I'm not familiar with where the bulk of their workforce is located, or if it is highly distributed.
gph 10y ago
Silicon Valley has become a general reference to the Tech industry the same way Wall Street is for the Finance industry. That's just the way it is in the public consciousness now, no point in fighting it too much.

wmccullough 10y ago

You mean the same company that this year, laid off over 20,000 positions? Get the hell out IBM, you're acting like a bunch of sycophants. P.S. Bluemix is bad and you should feel bad. EDIT: I normally try to approach my commenting with a rational calm way, but I can't, not with I.B-fucking.-M.

shakna 10y ago
Can any of us approach the behemoth calmly? It seems that wherever I go, everyone has something terrible to say about them, but they still keep getting huge contracts that they fail to deliver on. Is there someone here who can reasonably explain why they like IBM? Because I can't understand it. And I congratulate Queensland, Australia for banning future contracts with them for the next fifty years. (QLD can't contract to them for 50 years).
- alex_anglin 10y ago
  I'm certainly not an IBM customer, but I recognize that they have a very strong sales force. Relationships with management level IT folks and lots of golf games/schmoozing is probably one of their main competitive advantages.
- krona 10y ago
  No CTO ever got fired for buying IBM.
  - mattsmith321 10y ago
    That is what I was coming to post.
  - randcraw 10y ago
    No longer true. When IBM borked the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control software upgrade (1993), they very publicly lost the contract and many heads rolled. Mitre (their very stable FFRDC) lost a third of their FAA support staff in the blood-letting that ensued. IMHO, the only remaining golden boys of business are consultants like Bain and BCG, who tell the C-suiters what to think. Of course, the great secret is that these opt-shops will be the first companies to be fully automated, but invisibly. Then for decades thereafter, human CEOs will blithely continue to follow the lead of their precious Bain-bots, not realizing they've become a bot too (which they always were, of course).
  - user5994461 10y ago
    Pretty sure buying IBM in 2017 is a good way to get fired ^^
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > It seems that wherever I go, everyone has something terrible to say about them, but they still keep getting huge contracts that they fail to deliver on. Like many businesses that thrive on enterprise, and particularly government, contracts, IBM's key competitive strength is in knowledge of an expertise in navigating and manipulating the relevant contracting processes.
samtho 10y ago
IBM employed roughly 378,000 people in 2015[1] and the actual number laid-off is closer to 14,000[2]. This represents 3.7% of the workforce. While layoffs are never great, most of these were from legacy systems as they have been attempting to hire 25,000 since that was announced[3]. IBM is a very large company and employs a great number of people. They have been transitioning from a hardware company to a services company and thus, many workers who specialized only in the older tech will be let go. I cannot speak for everyone, but (AFAIK) they were given opportunity to move elsewhere in the company. To put the layoffs in context, Cisco is expected to lay off 14,000 workers (nearly 20% of its workforce), Walmart is laying off 17,500, and Seagate is laying off 8,100 by 2017 - 15.5% of its 2015 workforce[4]. 1: http://www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM_Annual_Report_2015.pdf http://www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM_Annual_Report_2015.p... 2: http://www.wsj.com/articles/ibm-layoffs-continue-1463784692 http://www.wsj.com/articles/ibm-layoffs-continue-1463784692 3: http://fortune.com/2016/05/20/ibm-layoff-employees-may/ http://fortune.com/2016/05/20/ibm-layoff-employees-may/ 4: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/08/19/12-companies-laying-off-the-most-workers/ http://247wallst.com/special-report/2016/08/19/12-companies-...
- wmccullough 10y ago
  Thank you for informing me.
- noobermin 10y ago
  You probably intended this to be obvious since it's in your profile, but you should disclose here too that you work for IBM.
- raverbashing 10y ago
  Of those 370k how many are warm bodies for "contract service positions" and how many are paper pushers?
  - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
    Why does it matter?
Spooky23 10y ago
Of course its IBM bullshit. They get to tie hiring they needed anyway to some incentive that they will be negotiate. They have an effective methodology for holding governments hostage and this is no different. You cannot blame IBM... they are making the noises that pandering politicians want to hear and driving value for their shareholders.
princetontiger 10y ago
Glad that someone posted this. I tried to use Bluemix to prototype some stock market AI thing... I spent a few weekend nights playing with it. Frankly, I didn't find Bluemix or Watson any more capable than myself. Of course, I then received several emails from sales reps.
solotronics 10y ago
IBM is pivoting towards cloud so they let go a lot of people associated with legacy projects. Bluemix happens to be great. We have had an excellent experience with them.
- athenot 10y ago
  Pretty heavy Blumix and AWS user here. Honest question: what do you feel is great about Blumix and what is the main differentiator? Except for the fact that they have bare metal in their offering, I haven't been impressed with them.
  - blakesterz 10y ago
    I can't tell if you're talking about SoftLayer or Bluemix or are they the same thing now? I feel like a confused old man suddenly because I thought Bluemix was a thing and now it's SoftLayer I thought, but maybe it's still that other thing?
    - athenot 10y ago
      I'm thinking of SoftLayer (now branded as Bluemix).
meira 10y ago
I got banned by commenting like this

hellogoodbyeeee 10y ago

What does the term "new collar" mean? I understand the distinction between blue and white, but i don't get what could be new

wmccullough 10y ago
I don't get this either. Blue and White collar workers haven't gone anywhere. They've been sitting here for years terrified that their jobs would go away. Let us not forget that IBM just eliminated 20,000+ jobs just this year.
qntty 10y ago
Looks like a term for white collar workers that they want to treat like service workers
steverb 10y ago
Judging from the context, I suspect it mean hiring former blue collar people to fill what would traditionally be professional roles (IT). Basically, they laid off a bunch of expensive, educated and experienced people and are now looking to backfill the areas they cut too deeply in with cheap labor that they can boot camp to a minimum level of proficiency and then charge the same prices for.
- tyingq 10y ago
  >with cheap labor that they can boot camp to a minimum level of proficiency That does indeed seem to be the case. There's a Huff Post article where IBM execs talk about their pilot program that's tied to this "new collar" business: According to an interview with an IBM official, “The objective is to prepare students for entry-level technology jobs paying around $40,000 a year"[1] [1]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/what-does-the-p-in-ptech-_b_6244690.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/what-does-the-p-in...
tyingq 10y ago
She ties the term "new collar" to vocational training versus college degrees. I suppose the cynical view is that they are trying to shift jobs that are currently held by expensive, degreed, employees...to fresh, cheap, vocational school grads. Edit: The letter she wrote to Trump outlining what "new collar" means: http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2016/11/15/IBM_LETTER_PG1.png http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/201...

tyingq 10y ago

"CEO Ginni Rometty announced that the new jobs will come over the span of four years" That's roughly 6000 per year. I'm curious what the definition of "new jobs" is. Since they have 300,000+ employees, I would think they already hire 6000+ a year just to cover natural turnover.

RA_Fisher 10y ago
I wondered the same thing, but I believe the announcement is more intended to curry favor with Trump.
user5994461 10y ago
Basically, that's about it. Announce turnover as if it were new hires.

Edward16 10y ago

You need a savvy hacker,one who specializes in Expunging Criminal Records and Change of University Grades. Contact edwardsnowcare@gmail.com One who would be able to carry out and successfully execute hacks on your behalf while keeping it all discrete and under the radar.

GrinningFool 10y ago

The conclusion of the article: > Rometty, the sole Silicon Valley leader on the advisory > council, may be trying to show Trump that IBM is working > to keep jobs inside the country. Is directly at odds with the implications of the CEO's words in the same article (emphasis added): > We are hiring because the nature of work is evolving – > and that is also why so many of these jobs remain hard to fill That reads a lot like the language used by $everyone to convince legislators that more H1B visas are required. In addition, I saw nothing in the statement that indicated the hiring would be in the US, or of US citizens.

djb_hackernews 10y ago
Exactly. And where is Trumps plan to meet with organizations that represent the interests of the American tech worker? All these executives see is the bottom line, and to them it looks like a bunch of overpaid nerds and there is a nice solution to that problem and all they have to do is repeat over and over "we can't find the skills we need". They've done a fantastic job of all getting on the same page, I just wish the american tech worker did the same to at least counterbalance their narrative.

satysin 10y ago

Wtf is "new collar"? Some bullshit IBM-talk for hiring back the 20k skilled workers they fired earlier this year for less money/benefits?

tyingq 10y ago
If you search around for other places where she uses the term, it means jobs that require only vocational training. Handy that these "new collar" workers will be less expensive, right? Edit: The letter she wrote to Trump outlining what "new collar" means: http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2016/11/15/IBM_LETTER_PG1.png http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/201...
- virmundi 10y ago
  Do we know that those new collar jobs will be less paid? In the resource you linked, security and data analysts are included. The could be vocational. They could be degree bearing. They could be advanced degree bearing. If they are paid less, it's probably do ease of entry.
  - tyingq 10y ago
    I posted a link in another comment in this thread that gives some idea. Their pilot program (6 year high schools) is targeting entry level jobs that pay $40k/year. They are definitely not degreed. I can't, of course, prove that this is displacing a job with a higher entry level salary, though I highly suspect it is. If it were a normal white collar opportunity, why call it new collar? That term obviously implies she's trying to shoehorn something in-between blue collar / white collar. Edit: I assume the $40k jobs are mostly in New York State, since the pilot school is in Brooklyn. I have no idea if $40k is a reasonable salary for say, Poughkeepsie.
    - virmundi 10y ago
      I think a lot of tech jobs are vocational. I know they don't require a college degree. I have one. I'm good at what I do. I've worked with several people who didn't have one, only a HS diploma, and they were good. This is part of the meritocracy that is tech. As to the entry level. While that is low from a SF perspective, in Florida, that's pretty good, especially in a semi-rural area. If IBM is putting data centers and the like in similar areas, the price for the employee is a good fit. Edit: don't get me wrong. I'm not a huge fan of IBM. I have a love/hate relationship (15000 red book pages under my belt). I also call their self-checkouts Nazi Clerks given their past.

randomname2 10y ago

Besides IBM's Ginni Rometty, the list of tech execs due to meet the President-elect today includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Facebook COO Sheryl Sanddberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Oracle CEO Safra Catz and Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins. [1] List of "invited, but not going": Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (currently out of the country), Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield. [2] Announced a few minutes ago however is that Travis Kalanick and SpaceX's Elon Musk are due to become members of the Presidential advisory council. [3] [1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-top-tech-executives-larry-page-tim-cook-sheryl-sandberg-to-attend-summit-at-trump-tower/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-top-tech-executives-larry... [2] http://www.recode.net/2016/12/10/13908492/trump-tech-summit-tim-cook-apple-larry-page-google-sheryl-sandberg-facebook-nadella-microsoft http://www.recode.net/2016/12/10/13908492/trump-tech-summit-... [3] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-forum-idUSKBN1431KU http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-forum-idUSKBN143...

puranjay 10y ago
I don't see a Zuck. What gives?
- mattkrea 10y ago
  Because their COO is there instead.

wyldfire 10y ago

Note that it's the announcement that's "ahead of the meeting," not the actual hiring.

__derek__ 10y ago
Yeah, the structure of the sentence tripped me up. I get that headline-writers sometimes get teased for their dependent clauses, but they do serve a purpose.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

reqres 10y ago

Given Trump's propensity to publicly denounce individual organisations, including threats of withdrawing government business, it's hardly surprising that companies are now lining up to court Trump's favour in the same vein as Carrier. The only thing that does surprise is just how quickly companies are adapting to the new game and lining up to present King Trump some kind of offering. The most recent Economist cover story provides some interesting perspective on this http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21711314-president-elect-has-new-approach-dealing-corporate-america-it-not-all-good http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21711314-president-ele...

djb_hackernews 10y ago
Indeed. My bet is they will announce a "great deal" that will "create 1000's of tech jobs" and all the Trump had to give up was an increase to the H1B cap, another OPT extension and maybe even a tax break.
ams6110 10y ago
If you've read his books you know that this is how he negotiates.

noobermin 10y ago

I think the "ahead of Trump meeting" makes what is effectively almost a tech story into a political one.

Dowwie 10y ago

To give some perspective on IBM's contracting relationship with the various agencies of the US government, here is a broad search: https://www.usaspending.gov/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx?sub=y&ST=C,G,L,O&FY=2017,2016,2015,2014,2013,2012,2011,2010,2009,2008&A=0&SS=USA&RN=international%20business%20machine https://www.usaspending.gov/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx?sub=y&...

user5994461 10y ago

Quick question: What is IBM doing and selling nowadays? Did they become a consultancy or something? They have 300k employees. That's a lot for a company I thought was dying.

dplgk 10y ago
http://www.geek.com/apps/tsa-paid-1-4-million-for-randomizer-app-that-chooses-left-or-right-1651337/ http://www.geek.com/apps/tsa-paid-1-4-million-for-randomizer...

howderek 10y ago

I don't trust this at all. IBM promised to create jobs in my town (Columbia, MO) in order to receive tax credits, and after they received those tax credits, they cut their workforce. The city has since suspended those tax credits. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I see this as nothing more than a facade to gain leverage with Trump. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/ibm-s-columbia-employment-numbers-drop-again/article_6b5f6867-dd99-5c44-b401-cc4ec7e2d7dd.html http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/ibm-s-columbia-emp...