Looks like the person who kept posting here saying this big 'spring' RA would occur the week after the Think conference (March 19-22) may have been right. Two layers of management said it was to be this past week, I know that for sure. Neither of those two layers knew why it was postponed at the last minute. Perhaps Ginni did get cold feet and not want the few remaining customers at Think asking questions about how their accounts would be supported going forward. So if it's the week after, the last week in March, that begs the question of whether IBM will do away with even the two weeks notice and just send folks out the door immediately.
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Last March RA’s in service. The day was the 28th of March ...My manager asked that I come over to a conference room at 10:00 which I did. When I walked in the room I saw a big envelope and I knew this was my day to be layed off. No matter how you think your going to react, it is a shock. Thinking the end of the month IBM will state RA’s based on all the notes flying around. Best if luck, keep your head high.
The most recent post by -3zzf should hopefully prompt others which may have had open reqs in their departments to now check and see if those have been pulled and if so, please report here. Would bet dollars to doughnuts that there's plenty more examples of this exact same thing having occurred, which could be used as a barometer that something (RA, re-org., divestiture, all three) is about to happen very soon.
Those FLMs lucky enough to have open head count were able to give those up in-lieu of placing folks on
the RA list.
@-2ezq: Our department, which has had two internal postings for maybe ~9-12 months (one was posted for longer than the other) just had them yanked last week by HR. So would say your statement quoted above is spot-on.
2rpn do you know this for sure or is that speculation?
I was a US contractor that was laid off in the CMS Cloud area on Friday. I later found out another 5 US contractors from my team was also laid off. No notice, just a heartless 5 minute phone call after 3 years of dedicated service. Meanwhile the new agile reorg was a complete waste of money and total failure and all the IBM execes and leaders that started it have jumped shipped leaving everyone else to clean up their mess.
The Think conference ends Thursday. RA calls to occur Friday. One week notice.
I think 2kpv is correct. They have already started. Earlier this year over half of the US based software architects in Distribution lost their jobs (either RA or had to find other jobs). The same happened in the other verticals, e.g. Financial. If you are in tech sales/sales for the legacy products, not a good future.
Hi Folks. Today IBM started their “cloud private” campaign NOTE this is different from “private cloud”. It shows where IBM is going. Cloud private was introduced back in the Oct 2017 timeframe and laid out where “legacy” applications can be modernized, and serviced. If you are in the “legacy” application, infrastructure, or HW business, pay attention to this, as this is where IBM is going. You need 10-15% of the workforce to operate within “Cloud private”. This is the go forward IBM strategy
- Right size. 2. While right sizing, Move all legacy to “cloud private” or off shore. 3. Spin-off off shore due to low profit margin, and high personel investment. 4. Merge “new IBM” with a company who can exploit cloud/AI/enterprise
Ra is not a rumor. 20+ people got their notices last week in Moscow office. Hybrid cloud & security only.
I agree with -2ezq. It's real because my manager reached out to me, kind of upset, because he was given a name of one of my teammates to RA and he didn't want to lose the guy (dedicated young guy with little kids). My manager knew I had volunteered before and was pretty set on retiring in May anyway, so I told him to substitute my name. It was kind of an emotional conversation so it's definitely real. Even in IBM I don't think most folks are that heartless to make something like this up. My manager is a very good person. So, it's just a matter of time. Just wondering now if they'll still boot us at the end of March with even less notice, or we'll get a reprieve until the end of April.
It is real as I had multiple front-line managers tell me that they had to submit names starting back in late February and in early March a 2nd round of names were requested because it wasn't deep enough. Those FLMs lucky enough to have open head count were able to give those up in-lieu of placing folks on the RA list. None of the FLMs know when it will happen and every one I spoke too thought it would have happened last week. My only thought being that they didn't want to do the RA in-front of Think.
Shouldn’t IBM change their slogan to , don’t think..... Many of us are working but thinking when is my time up. Let corperate water boarding , we come to work with a heavy thought of getting the axe.
Since Trump took office, I'd expect any layoffs in the U.S. to be much quieter and smaller. Would look pretty bad for Ginni if her company had a mass firing of U.S. citizens and it was splashed about in the news.
There’s also two other possibilities...
1) the RA was canceled as a result of IBM execs not wanting to look completely stupid in front of investors since other corporations are hiring and handing out cash.
2) the RA was a false rumor. These have happened plenty of times. IBM execs have fostered a culture of fear and everyone is always looking over their shoulder.
-1kuk you got RA'd on a Saturday?
I got my notice yesterday. The week before I asked my manager if I was in any jeopardy since I was on the bench - and he said no. Well - got the word. I am gone the end of the month. Still in shock - no idea how many others.
And if you keep saying "any minute now" eventually you will be right