IBM Preparing For US Layoffs in Services Unit

[Lochloosa]

Source: cnbc.com

IBM announced on Wednesday it will lay off a large number of U.S. employees in its global-businesses services unit and many of the positions will be transferred to IBM employees in India, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The number of jobs that will be affected was not reported.

The planned domestic layoff is a said to be a sign that more companies are turning toward cheaper Asian labor in order to slash costs and navigate through the global recession.



Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/29878283

[Tesha]

1. "The Sun Never Sets on IBM"

A good old book about the IBM World Trade organization;
they were very global long before it was trendy.

Tesha

[FarCenter]

11. About 2/3 of IBM sales revenue comes from outside the US

[msongs]

2. IBM is an enemy of the nation - no more tax breaks or subsidies for it please nt

[russian33]

3. oh, glad at least DU keeps me updated

that i might be out of the job soon...cause my company IBM sure doesn't

[supernova]

5. I've done 3 tours at IBM

and every single time I've been laid off because times were "bad."

The last time I was really just a place holder, there was no work for me to do.

[cobalt1999]

8. Hopefully, you are on a project and billable right now.

They are probably going after the bench folks.

[russian33]

9. not really

i've been with them for 7 years, came over when the company i worked for outsourced their IT to them...have watched slowly as they moved positions to India and Argentina...most of my team is now in argentina, so i guess my position is next to go abroad...and just when i got engaged damn it

[supernova]

4. IBM will be out of the US completely very soon

if this keeps up.

I guess that's what they want.

*sigh*

[OhioChick]

6. Traitors. n/t

[high density]

7. What companies are going to put up with that sort of service?

If a company wants India they will hire one of the Indian firms!

[russian33]

10. you'll be surprised how many do

i used to work for Cendant Corp (parent of Avis and Budget car rental), they outsourced their IT stuff to IBM (that's how i came over to IBM)..then AvisBudget Rental Group became their own company, over the last 2-3 years IBM slowly moved things to Argentina first, and lately to India (help desk, operations, etc)...so far its just the regular Joe Shmoes at AvisBudget that complain, the big execs aren't doing squat to change that

[babylonsister]

12. 5,000 jobs per Bloomberg:

IBM Said to Be Cutting 5,000 Jobs, Mostly in Services (Update2)

By Katie Hoffmann


March 25 (Bloomberg) -- International Business Machines Corp., the world’s biggest computer-services provider, will cut about 5,000 jobs today and tomorrow, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The reductions will primarily affect U.S. jobs in the business services unit, according to two people with knowledge of the situation who declined to be identified. Worldwide, the division accounts for about a fifth of sales.

IBM had already cut at least 4,000 positions since January, joining technology bellwethers Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. in trimming payrolls to cope with the recession. U.S. employers have eliminated more than 823,000 jobs since November, driving up the jobless rate to 8.1 percent last month, the highest level in a quarter-century.

IBM had previously eliminated positions in other divisions, such as software and sales, according to severance agreements sent to affected employees. Those documents were provided by the Alliance for IBM, an employee group seeking union recognition. The company, which also cut more than 2,000 positions in 2007, had almost 400,000 employees at the end of last year.

“I don’t believe this is the end,” said Lee Conrad, coordinator for the group. “We’re losing jobs at a record rate inside IBM.”

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aZ4...

[OhioChick]

14. Wow....5K now?

Yet....Sam Palmisano: IBM CEO begs Obama for bailout

http://gawker.com/5078804/ibm-ceo-begs-obama-for-bailou...

[LeftHandPath]

13. IBM's Values...

or lack there of... This is the official line.

In the end, IBMers determined that our actions will be driven by these values:

* Dedication to every client's success
* Innovation that matters, for our company and for the world
* Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships

http://www.ibm.com/ibm/values/us /

I'm actually hoping I'm one of the ones selected to be laid off. We've made so many stupid financial decisions with regards to our employees, its just insane. After 14 years, I've had enough. I'd rather take my chances with a company I can be proud of, even if it means earning more and traveling less.

[PfcHammer]

15. Indian Business Machines. Hehehe

[Jeep789]

16. More:

AP Source: IBM to lay off 5,000 US-based workers (AP)


SAN FRANCISCO - IBM Corp. plans to lay off about 5,000 U.S. employees in a new round of job cuts, the Associated Press has learned. The move reflects IBM's aggressiveness in shifting labor to lower-cost regions like India and keeping its profits aloft at a time when other technology companies' earnings are tumbling.

An IBM manager knowledgeable about the plans said the cuts will come from the services division and workers will be informed Thursday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because he was not authorized to discuss the plan publicly.

The layoffs were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

The cuts will affect about 4 percent of IBM's U.S.-based work force, which totaled 115,000 at the end of 2008. In a sign of how quickly IBM is staffing up in emerging markets, last year IBM had nearly as many workers in Brazil, China, India and Russia — 113,000 — as it did in the U.S.

More> http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090325/ap_on_hi_te/ibm_...

[AirmensMom]

17. They'll hurt themselves in the long run.

Of course, that will mean even more layoffs.

I just wasted over an hour of my time on HP's support in India. And I don't mind sharing it with 100,000 of my best friends. This is what we can expect when IBM follows suit:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

When I started working for IBM back in the 80s, orientation included a proud lecture of their "full employment policy" and a story about how they actually did lay someone off once. The manager got fired for doing it. (I don't know if it's true, but that was the story.) They told us that we had a job for life if we wanted it. It used to be a great place to work. How quickly that changed! Tom Watson is probably turning over in his grave.