IBM Global Tech Services staff at risk of redundo in Blighty

Re: Consultation?

The consultation period is a legal requirement. IBM would rather just let x people go, regardless of whether they're any good or not.

If you've got skills, get out. You'll get a better job with more money. Turn your back on the misery and frustration. Go somewhere where you'll be appreciated and encouraged. A redundancy package is the only bonus anyone below exec level can expect from IBM now. Take it. There are plenty of jobs out there. As IBM piss off their customers, they leave and have to go somewhere. Other, more modern and dynamic companies are welcoming them with open arms.

Re: Consultation?

How inconsiderate... Have you no thought for the poor managers performing resource actions? Getting rid of the people who do the actual work just so they can get paid their bonuses is soul destroying and they need to be treated carefully.

Oh... You thought the consultation was meant to help the people who were being gotten rid of?

Re: Consultation?

Quote from an employee rep many years ago: "It is Consultation, not Negotiation".

You ARE being "consulted" in that they are telling you what they are planning to do.

Agreed about the management-speak on this; I have seen too many emails over the years on redundancies that literally do not contain a single negative word...

Re: Consultation?

Agree, IBM should be more forthright about the process instead of letting HR slap all of their corporate PC labels on everything... it doesn't make the process of firing people to hit arbitrary numbers better for anyone.

Even if IBM doesn't care about the people they are letting go, they should have a respectful process for the people who they want to keep around. If everyone else sees people being screwed over, even if it isn't them, they are probably also going to look for the exits. I am writing as though this is a hypothetical, but the brain drain has already happened at IBM. If you are really a super star, world class (engineer, salesperson, etc), why work in that environment if you have a bevy of other options. If they just said, "look we need to let x number of people go" six months ahead of time (and they definitely know it is going to happen six months ahead of time) and asked people to look for other jobs while continuing to work at IBM, I think most people would respect it. What people resent is having it sprung on them out of the blue and they being labeled as damaged goods on the market when they could have fairly easily gotten another job if IBM had given them some warning. It is just the decent thing to do and it really costs IBM very little to nothing. It also send a signal to other employees that, if the worst happens, they will be treated fairly instead of just getting bounced one day.

Re: you can always tell its a Friday

That's unfair - I got offered mine on a Wednesday

Re: out of curiosity

All big tech companies are continually adjusting their workforces, sometimes making people redundant, sometimes hiring, sometimes both simultaneously.

It is only when the numbers mean that they have to go into consultation do we tend to hear about redundancies, but it is happening continuously across the industry.

Re: Not just GTS

Cloud *and* Analytics - so 40% of the new holy grail - CAMMS - might be MMS soon