Considering IBM's treatment of employees in a certain age bracket (mainly people in their fifties and above,) is anybody from that group still giving it their all knowing that ultimately it will mean nothing when the time for the next cost cutting arrives?
I know I personally would be doing the bare minimum if I knew my fate would be decided by how high my pay and benefits are and not by how well and how much I work.
nobody gives 100% unless they are on the cutting edge of some fantastic edge of discovery . Whether they are 20 or 100 . Other than that you will discover your Just a Schmo like the thousands that came before you that contributed to the growth of ibm or any other company
Plenty of chart makers who are younger than 50. But the chart makers aren't likely to be RA'd, due to their high visibility/popularity quotient. Instead, it's the ones who actually do real work and therefore don't have time to make charts who are more likely to get the ax.
To give it ones “all” would mean one left IBM and found another job.
Can you say collar job. IBM can. Hey how about working for 1/2 a hand full of rice instead of a hand full. There is always someone who will do it for a penny less. It’s a rush to the bottom. Welcome to the corporate world who doesn’t value experience, or education. It’s all about who will work for less
Let the dummy in their 20's work the job for $40k a year.
Fast fwd 10 yrs from now they will be making $45k a year. (if they still have a job)
Then someone on a forum will talk of how their jobs will be replaced by a 20 something.
What's different now than 30 years ago? Nothing, this has been going on for years.
Only real difference now is the salaries for new hires are hopeless so the joke is on them.
Sure, I'm giving my job search my all. Top performer in one of the hot areas who's finally had enough. This frog is boiled.
Many openings are routinelly being filled by people in their 20s.
If you are over 50, no matter how much you do, retrain, leverage your experience ... there is a target on your back. Your 'high' (haha) salary and benefits (like that extra 3rd week of vacation) is definitely weighing against you in the analyses HR is constantly running to see how to 'optimize' the work force.
This is a reflection of today's corporate environment in the US. Companies can import all the labor they want, American workers have given up union membership, so the result is: companies have all the power.
Yes, over 50 and try to give it all, always have. Do we succeed or hit the mark? Not always, and now, rarely, but IMO mostly due to major errors of leadership. Back in 2011 most technical leaders pointed at cloud technologies as the future for client services, but were outvoted by executives fearful of 'their' traditional outsourcing revenue being eroded. Well, time proved us right, but now, we are way behind the curve as other companies leap-frogged ibm.
Is anyone, regardless of age, doing more then the bare minimum? I know I get a bare minimum raise and GDP bonus each year so I follow with bare minimum effort. 87% of midpoint on salary, until I’m paid correctly not getting anything from me
If you still work at IBM then you are not giving it your all no matter what your age.
IBM is the MySpace of the sector. Their best days are far far behind them.
If you are over 50 you typically do not care regardless of the company (Source: my own experience)
Too many id--ts commenting on this thread. The guy over 50 with 30 years of service living paycheck to paycheck... obviously Pal you do not understand anything about life! Sorry to say.
IBM is just a job, if does not provide enough for you you should look somewhere else. Trust me, they are plenty of companies who would want you.
High pay?!?! If you are over 50 and 30 or more years with company and within 10% of the 50% mark of your pay grid, then guess what... no more pay raises for you and no more promotions. I am within 5% of mid-point (lower end at that) of pay grid and therefore, cannot get a raise. I live paycheck to paycheck after 32 years. Do i give it my all? You bet. That is just how i was raised. I do the work assigned to me, the work that once belonged to a host of others who were RA'd before me and the work to make up for the lack of work ethic of our snowflakes. When the time comes for me to go, that is for IBM to deal with. Yes, would love to be a fly on that wall!
10000% agree. So well said. I am over 50 and I do the best job I can. Not for the company or management - I do it for me. When all is said and done - it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of me or does to me. As long as I can respect the work and the effort I’ve given.
A lot of people will give their all no matter what the situation because it's the dignified and classy thing to do. They'll do it until their last day, and they'll give their all for their next job too. Others will find excuses and grouse with a sense of entitlement and find reasons to slack no matter their situation or environment. There will always be grasshoppers and ants.
I am 52 and I am doing the bare minimum. I am definitely spending some time to look for my next opportunity.