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Reminder that Cringeley's original claim from Jan 22nd was: To fix its business problems and speed up its “transformation,” next week about 26 percent of IBM’s

by smackfu 12y ago

Reminder that Cringeley's original claim from Jan 22nd was: To fix its business problems and speed up its “transformation,” next week about 26 percent of IBM’s employees will be getting phone calls from their managers. A few hours later a package will appear on their doorsteps with all the paperwork. Project Chrome will hit many of the worldwide services operations. The USA will be hit hard, but so will other locations. IBM’s contractors can expect regular furloughs in 2015. One in four IBMers reading this column will probably start looking for a new job next week. Those employees will all be gone by the end of February. Now he's trying to spin that he never said "layoffs". Not sure why the IEEE is still trusting him.

seanmcdirmid 12y ago
Wait. I'm confused: was cringeley right or wrong?
- smackfu 12y ago
  As far as anyone can tell, dead wrong, but then there are still headlines about "massive worldwide layoffs." Not that 5000 is a small number, but IBM is a large company.
- x0x0 12y ago
  Well, here's what we know: Cringely claims 100k people IBM claims low thousands (at a cost of $0.6B, which seems quite high) [1] ieee says Alliance@IBM, an ibm union, claims they know of 5k jobs eliminated; they further say they're seeing a flood of backdoor layoffs, ie sudden bad reviews My guess is in 6 months, Cringely was more right than wrong. Or at least we see an employment reduction of tens of thousands. [1] http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0KZ1WF20150126?irpc=932 http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0KZ1WF20150126?irpc...
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - smackfu 12y ago
    >IBM claims low thousands (at a cost of $0.6B, which seems quite high) If you pay 6 months severance, it adds up quickly. A million dollars covers only 20 $100k employees.
    - Nelson69 12y ago
      That's also ignoring insurance and various other costs..
    - rgovind 12y ago
      What is the reason companies pay a severance? Most jobs are hire or fire anytime right? Is the reason only lawsuits and good will?
      - rodgerd 12y ago
        IBM US has unionized employees. In much of the rest of the Western world you don't get to just sack people on a whim.
        seanmcdirmid 12y ago
        Is that actually true? I've never heard of a IBM union for tech employees. Is Alliance for programmers? Are they officially unionized? It seems ambiguous from their about statement [1]: > Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701 is an IBM employee organization that is dedicated to preserving and improving our rights and benefits at IBM. We also strive towards restoring management's respect for the individual and the value we bring to the company as employees. Our mission is to make our voice heard with IBM management, shareholders, government and the media. While our ultimate goal is collective bargaining rights with IBM, we will build our union now and challenge IBM on the many issues facing employees from off-shoring and job security to working conditions and company policy. There is WARN to consider, which is why they can't just do mass layoffs without lots of notice. [1] http://endicottalliance.org/aboutmembership.htm http://endicottalliance.org/aboutmembership.htm
      - beedogs 12y ago
        Some American companies apparently have yet to figure out you can fuck over your employees even more by not paying severance. IBM's clearly behind the curve on this trend.
  - jobu 12y ago
    Based on what the article states, the sudden bad reviews are particularly evil for many older employees. In order to bypass previous layoffs, many agreed to a specific retirement date and reduced pay/hours until that date. The catch was they had to maintain a yearly review rating that was better than 3. Once they get that bad review it appears all that goes out the window, no job, no severance, no retirement benefits. If this is all true, and is consistent for thousands of people, then IBM may have a class action lawsuit against them for wrongful termination.
- vuldin 12y ago
  So far he hasn't been way off the mark from what I can see, although that isn't stopping people from aiming their pitchforks at him. I guess they don't want him to be right or something?
  - fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
    People love to hate the messenger.

by smackfu 12y ago

seanmcdirmid 12y ago

Wait. I'm confused: was cringeley right or wrong?

smackfu 12y ago
As far as anyone can tell, dead wrong, but then there are still headlines about "massive worldwide layoffs." Not that 5000 is a small number, but IBM is a large company.
x0x0 12y ago
Well, here's what we know: Cringely claims 100k people IBM claims low thousands (at a cost of $0.6B, which seems quite high) [1] ieee says Alliance@IBM, an ibm union, claims they know of 5k jobs eliminated; they further say they're seeing a flood of backdoor layoffs, ie sudden bad reviews My guess is in 6 months, Cringely was more right than wrong. Or at least we see an employment reduction of tens of thousands. [1] http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0KZ1WF20150126?irpc=932 http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0KZ1WF20150126?irpc...
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- smackfu 12y ago
  >IBM claims low thousands (at a cost of $0.6B, which seems quite high) If you pay 6 months severance, it adds up quickly. A million dollars covers only 20 $100k employees.
  - Nelson69 12y ago
    That's also ignoring insurance and various other costs..
  - rgovind 12y ago
    What is the reason companies pay a severance? Most jobs are hire or fire anytime right? Is the reason only lawsuits and good will?
    - rodgerd 12y ago
      IBM US has unionized employees. In much of the rest of the Western world you don't get to just sack people on a whim.
      - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
        Is that actually true? I've never heard of a IBM union for tech employees. Is Alliance for programmers? Are they officially unionized? It seems ambiguous from their about statement [1]: > Alliance@IBM/CWA Local 1701 is an IBM employee organization that is dedicated to preserving and improving our rights and benefits at IBM. We also strive towards restoring management's respect for the individual and the value we bring to the company as employees. Our mission is to make our voice heard with IBM management, shareholders, government and the media. While our ultimate goal is collective bargaining rights with IBM, we will build our union now and challenge IBM on the many issues facing employees from off-shoring and job security to working conditions and company policy. There is WARN to consider, which is why they can't just do mass layoffs without lots of notice. [1] http://endicottalliance.org/aboutmembership.htm http://endicottalliance.org/aboutmembership.htm
    - beedogs 12y ago
      Some American companies apparently have yet to figure out you can fuck over your employees even more by not paying severance. IBM's clearly behind the curve on this trend.
- jobu 12y ago
  Based on what the article states, the sudden bad reviews are particularly evil for many older employees. In order to bypass previous layoffs, many agreed to a specific retirement date and reduced pay/hours until that date. The catch was they had to maintain a yearly review rating that was better than 3. Once they get that bad review it appears all that goes out the window, no job, no severance, no retirement benefits. If this is all true, and is consistent for thousands of people, then IBM may have a class action lawsuit against them for wrongful termination.
vuldin 12y ago
So far he hasn't been way off the mark from what I can see, although that isn't stopping people from aiming their pitchforks at him. I guess they don't want him to be right or something?
- fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
  People love to hate the messenger.