Thread regarding IBM layoffs

@vg when you pay peanuts, you hire monkeys .....and d-mb Indian monkeys @IBM at that. Posing, Posturing and Upskilling about AI and Quantum from Alvind and Krabanaugh doesn't change a single thing. (Or Kyndryl !)

Band 6 level?!?! You don't want to get into IBM at that low band level. There is a reason why IBM wants to hire at that band level... it is to pay you peanuts, not to mention it will be really hard for you to get quickly promoted to higher band levels. It is probably going to take you 40 years to get to band 10 and have a shot to become a DE. Then band 10 and DEs never last... they are too expensive and very hard to deploy, especially if you are in services. The minimum level you want to get hired into IBM is band 8. If you don't get that, you better off looking somewhere else.

This reminds me of the "New Collar" initiative under Ginni. "Turns out we do need some people onshore in the same time zone who can speak English." Sounds like this time they're hiring people with actual degrees though, since Band 6. Sadly, they will be treated as disposable, just a crutch for the main employees in India, discarded after a couple of years.

I am band 9. last year band 6 engineer hired. I shared my knowledge. He jumps on what I am doing . now at performance evaluation I do not meet performance. the band 6 engineer is fine. It is not about AI

@e8
" When it comes to using AI, “it’s like they’re biking in the Tour de France and the rest of us still have training wheels,” said Melanie Rosenwasser, chief people officer at file-sharing platform Dropbox Inc. “Honestly, that’s how much they’re lapping us in proficiency.”"

Sigh, so this is how the US is going to end, with slow corrupt unskilled people spewing propaganda. Jeez, at least could you be a little creative.

'AI' uses math and statistics. Are you saying the older folks don't know math and statistics?

This sounds exactly like the DEI statements again. Are they planning to remove white folks and older folks again while trying to live off of huge gov contracts. By the way these contracts are mostly benefiting the skillless losers on top while destroying the standard of living of the real workers in the US. Please please get out of the US and stop su-king up our resources. We can create our own decent companies.

@e8 -- ". . .on the AI fluency of younger workers. . ."
Guess it's the new "digital nomad".

@e8
'AI fluency of younger workers'
a re--rded statement
intelligent people can pick stuff on their own
they don't need someone to hold their hand

[Complete Bloomberg article quoted below that was referenced in the article by the OP].

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-12/ibm-plans-to-triple-entry-level-hiring-in-the-us-in-2026

IBM to Triple Entry-Level US Hiring With Roles Recast for AI Era --

By: Jo Constantz
February 12, 2026 at 2:48 PM CST

International Business Machines Corp. said it will triple entry-level hiring in the US in 2026, even as artificial intelligence appears to be weighing on broader demand for early-career workers.

While the company declined to disclose specific hiring figures, it said the expansion will be “across the board,” affecting a wide range of departments.

“And yes, it’s for all these jobs that we’re being told AI can do,” said Nickle LaMoreaux, IBM’s chief human resources officer, speaking at a conference this week in New York.

LaMoreaux said she overhauled entry-level job descriptions for software developers and other roles to make the case internally for the recruitment push.

“The entry-level jobs that you had two to three years ago, AI can do most of them,” she said at Charter’s Leading With AI Summit. “So, if you’re going to convince your business leaders that you need to make this investment, then you need to be able to show the real value these individuals can bring now. And that has to be through totally different jobs.”

The result is a different mix of duties for early-career workers at IBM. Since AI tools can handle most routine coding tasks, the company’s junior software developers now spend less time on that and more time working with customers. In the HR department, entry-level staffers now spend time intervening when HR chatbots fall short, correcting output and talking to managers as needed, rather than fielding every question themselves.

IBM’s decision comes as questions mount about whether AI will wipe out opportunities for new graduates. Last year, Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei warned that half of entry-level office jobs may vanish by 2030. And recent advances in AI models have stoked anxiety among college students worried about being displaced amid an already tough job market.

Slashing early-career recruitment may save money in the short run, but it risks creating a scarcity of mid-level managers later on, LaMoreaux said. That could force firms to poach talent from competitors, which tends to be more costly than promoting internally. Those hires also typically take longer to acclimate to the company’s culture and systems than those trained in-house, she said.

Some executives and economists argue that younger workers are a better investment for companies in the midst of technological upheaval.

When it comes to using AI, “it’s like they’re biking in the Tour de France and the rest of us still have training wheels,” said Melanie Rosenwasser, chief people officer at file-sharing platform Dropbox Inc. “Honestly, that’s how much they’re lapping us in proficiency.”

Dropbox is now expanding its internship and new graduate programs by 25% to capitalize on the AI fluency of younger workers, she said.

USA hiring is in part because of the current administration push for hiring American workers. IBM wants to stay on the good side of this administration. Of course, laying off (oops RA) older employees is a net gain for IBM.

So I was RA’d as a Band 10 because I was too expensive

That is an important factor in the equation, but it's not the only one.

@OP. The short answer is yep. There is a reason India has gone up by 100k in headcount over the last 10 years while NA and Northern Europe have dropped by 100k. Indian employees work for approx 1/3 the cost. REMEMBER IBM is driven by cost and if they can find someone to do it for less, they will. The next big thing will be to automate repeatable employee tasks via AI. That implementation will fall primarily on the Indian workforce as the USA and Northern Europe headcounts have been depleted

More Nickle and Dime-Arvind-Jim K CFO nonsense. This is called "labor arbitrage" (forcing out older experienced workers for younger no experience and or cheap offshore countries) and something the G Man Gerstner brought into IBM 4-1-93 when he came in from being at Amex and Nabisco and worst of all McKinsey which is where they tell you that you are the smartest person on the planet and can do no wrong or harm. He fired over 100,000 IBMers in 18 months. BS.

Outright lying how IBM is trying to turn what should be illegal (hiring based on age, firing based on age) into something rand and wonderful that this is "a gateway for people entering the workforce" and of course how the young know nothing new hires magically know and use AI better that the dinosaurs at IBM over 40. IBM thinks customers want people who 6 months ago worked the counter at Ulta or was a hostess at a bar and sending them to IBM's puffy GSS Global Sales School they pop out like Gerstner/McKinsey, the smartest people on the planet + AI. It is a cabal of lies to drive down SG&A sales general administrative costs as IBM has been doing now for 4 decades.

Based on recent reports and employee feedback, IBM's approach to workforce management, often described as labor arbitrage, has faced significant criticism for prioritizing cost-cutting, AI adoption, and shareholder value over employee welfare.
Key aspects of these criticisms include:

Massive Layoffs and Shifting to Lower-Cost Regions: IBM has historically, and as recently as 2024-2025, conducted large-scale layoffs, sometimes referred to as "resource actions," often while simultaneously hiring in regions with lower labor costs, a core component of labor arbitrage.

Targeting Older Workers: Investigations have suggested that IBM specifically targeted older employees for layoffs, sometimes urging them to train their cheaper, younger replacements or overseas workers.

Replacing Staff with AI: CEO Arvind Krishna has actively pushed for replacing roles with AI, with reports indicating thousands of jobs (particularly in human resources) being eliminated in favor of AI automation by the end of 2025.

Secretive Layoff Process: Employees have reported that recent layoffs have been handled in secret, with some alleging they were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) regarding the specifics of their termination.

Replacement as Contractors: Some employees have reported being laid off, only to be offered the opportunity to return as contract workers, often for the same work at a lower rate of pay with fewer benefits.

These practices have led to a reputation for high employee turnover and a, at times, "toxic" work environment, leading to significant criticism from both former employees and observers.

Labor arbitrage based on age involves optimizing labor costs by strategically hiring workers from specific age demographics—typically focusing on either younger, less experienced workers with lower wage expectations or, conversely, older, experienced workers who may be seeking flexible, part-time work or have lower benefit demands. This strategy has evolved from traditional geographical outsourcing to a more nuanced, internal workforce composition strategy, often influenced by automation and changing labor force participation rates.

I have said it 100 times, we should have gone out on strike in the early 90s for a week or a month or whatever it would have taken to tell the G Man to take a hike and stop the layoffs and stealing of the promised pensions. But alas we were old school IBMers who were highly trained and obedient and did as we were told and could not forecast what IBM has been doing for 4 decades of destruction.

Wait didn’t the just layoff a bunch of high level folks? High performers?

Are they going to pay the visa fee??

@a8 IBM management pays $50K for the newbies to sit around for a whole year and do nothing. Then, the IBM management lay them off the next year for doing nothing. When you have incompetent and uneducated managers and supervisors running IBM, what do you expect ? GIGO. Just like Arvind and Krabanaugh.

No Layoffs to make room for them !

That's my IBM: always at the cutting edge of cutting talent.

This is going to end well

More like Nickle and Diming

So they are going to bring in some 22 year old goober and pay them 50K for what?