15 percent of high performers across all band levels are be rated as low performers to reduce bonus pay outs. This is the next move on attrition. Next steps may be pips and subsequent layoffs. You would think a company as large as IBM would be able to handle this differently. Hopefully people who know they are high performers that get a low performance review know this has nothing to do with them and everything to do with the dysfunctional management team at IBM.
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He just posted a picture for St. Patrick’s Day, and look who’s in the background! You really can’t make this up, no? Come on—this is pretty blatant favoritism at this point, and he’s not even trying to hide it anymore.
@2hk If you see Huiming Bu LinkedIn profile, she is showing as top “other people suggested.” This is little curious thing, no? If algorithm is able to see and understand this, then obviously people also must be seeing it.
Careful she is super protected -a “made” person in Albany. IYKYK
@26z
Etch engineer who was promoted to senior manager within last year. She was moved to make room for other failed managers whose own respective areas completely collapsed under their failed mismanagement
Who is FL?
@1gg
Yes, she very much HB favorite. Maybe number one favorite.
Not say she bad person. But she not deserve this and she know how use the real system.
She get three promotion in two, three year. Everybody confused like how? For what?
No big accomplishment. No big achievement. Teams she is on didn’t do anything. Miss major milestone many quarter with important client.
How this make sense?
@1er
Is it FL?
@nm+1kg3ctq05
He very clearly has favorites. Just look at the way they promoted the newest senior manager in the etch area. It seems very suspicious and does not make sense when you look closely.
Watch what happens and ask yourself: Does this make sense? Was it earned? What accomplishments justify this promotion? If you can point to any, then okay.
He speaks very little and explains even less. He is calm and does not use many words, but actions show what really matters. Look at the results and ask: Does it make sense? Was it deserved? Are there measurable contributions that support this promotion? If not, it is clear what really happened.
@1ch This occurs throughout IBM, but it’s far more blatant and egregious in Albany.
@1c3 it’s just what you describe in albany
@14a
That tracks with what a lot of people have seen. Leadership will go out of their way to protect their own, even if it means moving people into roles they have no background in and realistically shouldn’t be in. Experience and fit don’t seem to matter much when someone is part of the inner circle.
It’s all political, top to bottom. Those decisions usually come at the expense of everyone else, who end up dealing with the fallout while a small group benefits. Over time it becomes pretty obvious how the system actually works, regardless of what’s said publicly.
On paper, they’ll tell you exactly how to succeed — follow the process, hit the metrics, do the right things — but in reality none of that carries much weight. Doing everything “by the book” doesn’t get you very far.
What actually matters is who you know and whether the right people favor you. Merit and hard work don’t really move the needle. There’s a relatively small inner circle that effectively runs the IBM side of the site, and advancement depends almost entirely on whether you’re accepted into that group. You need to become one of their vassals. If you aren’t, your career just stalls out.
That dynamic isn’t new either. It’s been entrenched for a long time — easily a decade or more and run by same group of people. The place is extremely political, far more than any other work environment I’ve been in. People eventually figure it out, but by then it’s usually too late to change their trajectory.
I was not. but may be later. who knows. but it seems it is the manager who decides and not the system
@18c are we not going on a pip this time if marked low performer?
@18c
Not OP - but unfortunately yes.
- meet the 3 perf. categories
- nevertheless marked low performance
- not put on PIP
Is this usual process? What to make of it apart from the obvious
@13z
If that is true then that is 100% retaliation. And should worry everyone who works in Albany. I hope they are able to to sue for the original offense but I think the severance packages have NDAs tied to them.
@13z I noticed at the Albany site there are some people who know the dirt on everyone and get people to give them job security that way (by leveraging it). So they never get marked as low performers even if they truly are
Hello @vf+1kg3ctq05,
Not the original poster, but most people here probably know the outline already, or at least parts of it. What’s frustrating is how directly it contradicts the values that leadership keeps publicly emphasizing.
From what’s generally understood, there’s a centralized group on site that supports a lot of other teams. The manager of that group allegedly made inappropriate comments toward one team member and separate racist remarks toward another. Both individuals reportedly escalated their concerns directly to HB.
After that, things didn’t go well for either of them. Both were labeled as low performers or put on PIPs not long after raising the issues. One was ultimately included in the November RA layoffs, and the other was relocated to a different site. Meanwhile, early in the new year, the manager involved was promoted to senior manager.
This doesn’t seem like an isolated incident at the Albany site. There’s a visible pattern of favoritism. HB clearly has favorites, and if you pay attention to his LinkedIn activity, the pattern isn’t subtle. He consistently boosts and supports the same type of people, and they tend to fit a very specific mold. They all look the same.
Make of that what you will.
@dt sorry to hear that. Take it as a sign. Your manager is not letting you move down a level because he knows in 6 months or less he will need names for the next layoff and he is already thinking of adding your name. Suggest you start looking for a new position now.
@v8 without giving names can you share the kind of misconduct? I’ve heard a lot of references to this at the Albany site
@nm
Is this the same individual who, within the past year, was involved in the suppression of allegations concerning serious misconduct? Available actions suggest that the reporting individual was terminated, notwithstanding stated non-retaliation policies, while the accused party was subsequently promoted during the same period.
My boss said as far he is aware the only negative for being a low performer is no gdp (and there may not be anyway). Unaware of any layoffs and doesn’t know if they need to put low performers on PIPs in new system as there doesn’t seem to be a way.
At IBM, sh1t floats to the top.
@nt They don’t generate any revenue. They are a large cost center.
@nt
Unfortunately, your assessment is correct. Those most affected are not the individuals who bear responsibility. The core issue lies in a leadership structure that has become deeply entrenched and resistant to accountability or renewal. Despite its longevity, this leadership has produced limited substantive outcomes, and much of the work emerging from the organization lags the broader industry by several years. Even initiatives positioned as “advanced” fall noticeably behind contemporary standards.
@Jay G, if you are reading this, I strongly encourage a thorough and unflinching review of the leadership in question. A rigorous examination—one grounded in data, outcomes, and governance—will likely reveal numerous irregularities, as well as a pattern of underperformance that cannot be reconciled with the resources invested or the strategic importance of the work.
@nm how did they go until 2025 without a mass layoff? Feels really bad in Albany now for soon layoff
Don’t forget about Huiming B and the people around him in New York. They have been using the site for their own benefit for about 14 years. They mainly look out for themselves. There is no oversight. No one really checks on them or the location, so they have been able to continue self serving parasite work.
@k2 again it’s being used as a tool to get rid of folks for one reason or another and has nothing to do with their actual performance. Maybe they were high salary for their band, maybe they were not “Yes” people. But fact is a lot of surprising high performing and producing folks were magically deemed people non gratas. Years from now people will look back at this and finally call out the leaders for what they are and did. Remember their names!
@jx I was wondering that myself…my boss claims some people you’d never think were on a pip were but everyone in my dept who has been put on one was exited (we had some on coaching plans not be, one has been here over a year since it ended )
@ek - Continued to grow for how long ?
@h8 I'm all over it.
@h8 it beeeeggiinnnnnnsss!!!!
I'd call on all IBMers 'in the trenches' to simply "Quiet Quit" and look for greener pastures. I departed in '15 and within a few months they nuked the rest of my team, including our manager. Same as it ever was.
@h8 correct me if I am wrong here, but IBM doesn't like layoffs and forced retirements as it su-ks up their cash out of the corporation....LOL ! PIPS means lower expense for the crooks like Alvind and Krabanaugh. It's the gimme, gimme, gimme culture for the executive crooks.
@OP the PIP and layoff action should start with executives and senior managers most (95%) of whom do nothing to improve products and sales for IBM. Nothing but bloat and gimme, gimme, gimme culture. And Alvind gets more H1B visas for Indians to sc--w up the company even more. Flatten the organization even more than it is currently and cut out the worthless upper and middle men (and women) who simply pass reports from the lowest employee to the senior VPs. No added value in that, id--ts like Joanne Wrong, Liteson and Fourie can do that . Other companies are doing it - getting rid of senior losers - so why not IBM ? The pathetic Indian DEI based culture needs to be shown the door yesterday. Same goes for Alvind and his crooks.
FLM here. Found out yesterday our VP wants all our lows on PiPs. It’s not a mandate in our area but they felt a PiP will “help” the employee digest and grow and understand why they were put on it. Pure BS. I’m considering retiring early 30+ years. Not the same company but waiting for some legal action here. Have to believe someone will take it to an attorney. Google stack ranking and see how most companies are abandoning it.
@ek yes it just bullsh-t to calm down the sheep before sla-ghter … look the system is broken and being misused. And only a select few benefit from it and more often then not it’s not the most deserving folks
That goes back to Ginni where cut everyone's rating to reduce bonuses and some people got cut to receive no bonus. She also one year said no bonuses for anyone including executives, but she forgot to mention the executives got more stock options to offset their no bonus
@ef why are they claiming 73 percent placed on pips from 2023 to today successfully accomplished their pip and continued to grow at IBM? (Verbatim from low performance indicator email from middle of last year).
@e5 correct they are using as a tool for layoffs not the tool it was originally intended for