That's what I've hard in the office and on the project. Three unrelated sources. Nobody was certain, so it's a rumor in a true sense of the term. I see some ramblings here on layoffs.com but really, nobody knows. We'll know soon enough and at this point nothing can surprise me when it comes to both IBM and GBS. All the best to all of you.
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@dksx - it depends how profitable your piece of GTS is. The CFO has already said low profit margin pieces of the business will not be pursued
Is GTS safe?
We have seen this movie before
1990 The market moves on IBM to distributed. IBM can’t adjust. Head count 375k
1990-1993 IBM right sizes to 305k
1993 IBM hires new CEO who brings new ideas
1993-1994 IBM restructures to services. Head count goes to 220k. This is IBM’s base efficient head count
1995 IBM returns to growth
2015 The market moves on IBM to Cloud IBM can’t adjust Head count 430k
2015-2019 IBM right sizes to 330k
2019 IBM hires new CEO who brings new ideas
2019-2020 IBM restructures to cloud/managed services. Headcount goes to 230k. IBM’s base efficient head count
2021 IBM returns to growth
@caxd source?
I hope it’s true, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Week of Feb 18 is the week when IBM is cleaning house. Get ready for some really bad news.
IBM is another company using the top down management system. You need more poeple in upper management to do the boot licking of leadersip.
IBM's Way Out? Sell Itself! - Forbes
@4qmc I am so sorry to hear. How can leadership honestly justify laying off an entire team? I’m assuming you were client billable? What do they tell you to say to your clients?
I'm NOT sorry - Peewee Herman
Is your team GBS or GTS? How many people in your team? Sorry about the news.
My entire team will be laid off, anyone else got more news?
Nothing will happen (layoffs, etc) before THINK. Bad PR. It'll be late Feb or early March. Better PR. Quarterly earnings PR ramp up.
I am in GBS, I have yet to hear anything. Has anyone been notified of any layoffs yet?
I doubt it. We'll know soon, on Friday.
I have received about 10 separate invites for all hands meetings coming up.
As if the new leaders of GBS/GTS will have any positive impact for us.
I was assigned an account with 3 systems only yet I had 4 different managers barking orders.
I'm sorry what is that c-ap? Internal IBM account is what that c-ap is.
When your own company is all about the bloat you are in trouble.
@XsJmEyJ-2dbd Spot on. I have worked at some very large companies before coming to IBM and have never seen anything like this. The organizational pyramid is literally upside down. Multiple managers for every worker, multiple executives for every manager.
Actually, IBM has a ridiculous number of VPs and assorted extraneous execs still on the books.
Someone needs to have a good long look at what these guys actually do.
@1pkx in my group it’s all done in secret, but we all find out when someone pushes relentlessly for an unqualified person to be promoted, put on special assignments, or given special tasks. This happens at other consulting firms, trust me from experience, but I have seen more strict action taken to move the person as soon as it’s been identified even via an anonymous tip (had that at the last firm I worked for). Here we live in fear of ever reporting anything because somehow HR will turn it against you.
You hit the nail right on the head.
The nepotism is just disgusting. You see people walking into the IBM building holding hands.
IBM needs to enforce a no workplace dating and no spouse employment policy.
I’ve heard this too. Yet many teams, mine included, are hiring at the same time that they’re firing. I’m convinced that the company is simply completely broken and nothing will change. Anyone new and energetic stays for 2 years, sees how entrenched the toxic culture and bad apples are, and then leaves. We hemorrhage good staff because management will not reward good performance. The culture of jealousy and backstabbing is appalling behavior exhibited by all levels of leadership. Then we have the working level staff who can’t be bothered to put in more than the minimum because they don’t get paid enough to care, a fair perspective that we all completely understand. It’s sad how I’ve seen our most bright and innovative staff driven out of the organization by a toxic management chain too focused on self-promotion. Or they leave because unfairly shafted due to “it’s not you knew it’s who you Blue,” a disgusting culture that everyone knows happens but doesn’t speak about it openly.
The company needs to be GUTTED and all layers of management slashed to the bone in order to survive. But when you see an acceptance of failure for seven straight years, you see that leadership simply don’t care. They would rather run a once great organization into the ground. Watson must be spinning in his grave. Sad times.
@1ewt, the middle managers are the worst at IBM. They don't want to open their mouths for anything as they are afraid of getting laid off. We should get rid of at least one level of middle management across the board, like as an example the Director level. That way, may be the folks at the VP level will have something to do! Shame on these people!
Co-location is also yesterday's dying technology but IBM cannot see the forest for the trees.
Next thing you know the IBM song lyrics will be on my desk. "Ever Onward"
Sure spending a Billion to buy a servicing company is silly, BUT if you are a Monopoly and control the pricing, it could be good business especially if you can preserve that monopoly via letting Redhat re-write the middle ware and new front end applications thus preserving the legacy monopoly code forever. As folks have been saying. IBM is playing to preserve their Enterprise customers (especially Z) so that they can lock them in
@XsJmEyJ-oob Especially in Armok. Middle managers really have their hands tied by poor strategy and terrible execution by the execs. They have no authority to do anything, so I cut them some slack. Remember this is the leadership team that spent a billion dollars to buy a mainframe servicing company. Talk about investing in yesterday's dying technology. I heard someone describe the peridioc mainframe revenue as a dead cat bounce.
And all that's on top of a completely failed buyback strategy. Can anyone with a straight face tell me that was the best return on capital available?
Yeah, there is a rumor born every minute.
Chill, cannot control it.
Too many of those rumors lately. The cleanup of the middle management never happened.
I still see way too many Bill Lumbergh's running around micro managing.