IBM cutting 111,800 of its staff.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

All those are regurgitating a story by a Forbes silicon valley contributor, Robert X. Cringely, from 1/22

The headlines today are indicating IBM is denying the rumor.

Kind of makes you wonder if Bob Cringely had anything to gain by misreporting.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

So much for the worldwide universal education theories eh.

originally posted by: Zarniwoop
a reply to: Blackmarketeer



All those are regurgitating a story by a Forbes silicon valley contributor, Robert X. Cringely, from 1/22



The headlines today are indicating IBM is denying the rumor.



Kind of makes you wonder if Bob Cringely had anything to gain by misreporting.

Maybe so...but I have worked for many companies who have denied rumors of layoffs only to be laid off and the company close its doors. I don't necessarily buy IBM's denial.

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
a reply to: douglas5

Computers now able to do the jobs people used to maybe?

Seems to be happening everywhere...
The start of the robot apocalypse is upon us.

The US economy has passed the point of "peak" employment. Thus, barring some miracle, we'll see the labor participation rate continue to fall.

a reply to: graceunderpressure

they had a very successful operation running , made a big difference to many of us here today

a reply to: texasgirl

Absolutely right! IBM has become way too good at this to damage their reputation and potential earnings by exhibiting such a visible layoff. But, do it they will -- incrementally over time so that it doesn't show, through "workforce rebalancing," "early retirement packages" and a zillion other ways that mask what's really happening.

originally posted by: graceunderpressure
a reply to: stosh64

The video is pretty accurate to the way that many IBMers feel. But, I decided a long time ago to treat the relationship with the company as a purely business association. And, unlike the bloke in the video, I set about making myself indispensable to them and maintaining the highest quality work -- for myself -- to keep them as a "customer." Gone are the rah-rah company days. Unless you're self-motivated, you won't survive in this environment.

You have a great, and I feel required, attitude towards trying to make yourself indispensable.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

This is not a sign of IBM struggling or failing or going under - this is just another American company gutting its American work force in favor of dirt cheap tech workers they can import for a fraction of the cost of their traditional American worker

In my experience, it's been a major pain in the arse to hire H1-B workers. You have to justify that their position is specialized file paperwork, etc.... basically sponsor the employee. It costs the company money to do this, the salaries are pretty competitive, and you can get in trouble for lying about their specialized talents. This is not how companies purge staff.

Now, hiring an initiative out to a contracting firm is very common. "I need 300 java programmers by Monday"
It's really the only viable option available in this tech environment to fill positions quickly and cheaply. Yes, the quality suffers, but you can add/remove folks on a moments notice.

If IBM is just now figuring out they need to move to cloud computing/services, then they are far behind their competitors.

originally posted by: blacktie
a reply to: graceunderpressure

they had a very successful operation running , made a big difference to many of us here today

I never said they didn't. And quite frankly, it probably made a bigger difference to me than many others because it provided my income for the last 20 years.

It's helpful to view companies like IBM as Great White Sharks. Yes, they swim around and gobble up things to keep themselves alive. People get hurt. But the sharks are just following their nature; doing what they do. If you get in the water with them, it's at your own risk.

originally posted by: onequestion
a reply to: douglas5

Well look at it this way... they can all become welders and HVAC techs! Oh wait we dont need those as much as everyone says we do...

Yup, a basic income and a smaller workweek is where we are going people. Its unavoidable why do we continue to resist it?

Because then people would have to admit the old economy is dead and gone....and has been for a long time.

I had a team of 10 people managing little ol' me, and I was the only one actually doing any work.

Not surprised. Who is worth less then most unskilled, minimum wage workers?

The majority of management.

a reply to: infinityorder

Sure looks like internet for the masses is turning round and biting us in the behind , I am late 40s and with the leaps that the tech world is taking i feel like 140 some days .

originally posted by: douglas5
A report by a respected Silicon Valley journalist for Forbes says around 26% of the company's 430,000-strong workforce will be cut this week.

I'm calling BS on this. No way could a company lay off that many people all at once. It doesn't work that way.

a reply to: FlyersFan

It does seem a huge number to axe in one go FlyersFan , the respected Forbes journalist swang it for me

You cant trust anybody these days

Or it could be a cunning plan to buy back shares if the price tanks

You just never know might be a conspiracy at boardroom level

Somebody should scour through this....

DailyJobCuts

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

IBM has re-defined itself as mostly a services company. It provides every kind of support imaginable from it's mainframes, to every network, storage system and desktop environment. Chances are, if you work for an F500, then IBM is in there doing support work for you. Yes, they are dumping US workers and going to India to fill the void. It is an abomination, and the US is dragging it's feet by not severely dealing with major corporations that do this, still, on a regular basis. I am talking major fines and extra taxes. That is the only thing that will stop it, because big business is only interested in profitability. So much for the ISO 9 thousands, and Quality... Just a ruse to think that they care about you. Beware when you see those 6 Sigma people show up at a meeting.

Service Them??? Nah, I'll just learn to make a tasty BBQ Sauce that make computers taste good. That's all, I'll eat The B**tard Things rather than starve! LOL Arjunada

















a reply to: douglas5

Interestingly when everyone thought the rumors were true, IBM's stocked was soaring and when it proved false stocks changed course.

www.zerohedge.com...

a reply to: Zarniwoop

He didn't. But IBM stocks sure did love the news. You can tell by the way the price crashed after IBM denied that rumor. So kids, the lesson is, lay off 100,000 people stocks surge. You keep your employees, stocks crash.

This has been your cenpuppie public service announcement.

Hot of the press www.marketwatch.com...

The stock has lost 3.8% over the past three months and 13% over the past year, while the Dow has gained 5.2% and 11%, respectively.

IBM already outsources heavily and has over 150,000 employees in India.

Shares of IBM Corp. IBM, +0.87% are rising 1.2% in premarket trade Monday,