[neverdem]

FWIW

[RiflemanSharpe]

With all the good paying jobs going overseas how do they expect us to buy what they sell?

[Bikers4Bush]

Well at least we won't have to go through the bothersome chore of giving any programming technology and secrets to China anymore. They'll be free to just take them.

[canis major]

Time to start boycotting IBM too.

[StolarStorm]

"Some workers are scheduled to be informed of the plan for their jobs by the end of January. After that they will be expected to train an overseas replacement worker in the U.S. for several weeks. The IBM workers marked for replacement have 60 days to find another job inside the company, likely to be a difficult task at a time when IBM is holding down hiring. "

Anyone who trains their replacement is a traitor to themselves and their country.

[neverdem]

Maybe a boycott of IBM is appropriate.

[Mo1]

Hmmmm .. Moving to India, an area that is a hot bed for terrorists and then there is the fact that India and Pakistan keep threatening to nuke each other

Something tells me that IBM will regret this move

[TaxRelief]

Ahem. Did Willie Green give you permission to post this story?

[joesnuffy]

IBM calls its plan, first presented internally to some midlevel managers in October, "Global Sourcing." It involves people in its Application
Management Services group, a part of IBM's giant global-services operations, which comprise more than half IBM's 315,000 employees.

Slave labor is a wonderfull thing...especially in countries that have well educated slaves

[Golden Eagle]

Here's another article about this I attempted to post under Keyword IBM: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=562&ncid=738&e=10&u=/ap/20031215/ap_on_hi_te/ibm_offshoring

IBM to Move Software Jobs to India, China

ARMONK, N.Y. - IBM Corp. plans to move up to several thousand skilled software jobs from the United States to India, China and other countries, which could amount to one of the biggest such actions yet in the technology industry.

IBM documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal said about 4,700 programming jobs could be shifted overseas to save costs, a growing high-tech industry trend known as "offshoring."

More than 900 people are already scheduled to be told of the move in the first half of 2004, while another 3,700 jobs have been identified as having the "potential to move offshore," the Journal said. IBM already has hired 500 engineers in India to take on some of the work that will be moved, the Journal reported.

The division affected is IBM's Application Management Services group, part of Big Blue's huge technology services division. The IBM facilities where workers could be replaced include offices in Dallas, Southbury, Conn., Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Raleigh, N.C., and Boulder, Colo.

IBM spokesman James Sciales said he would not comment on "internal presentations" but noted that most of IBM's work force, which now totals 315,000, has been overseas for years. Sciales also released a statement saying IBM expects hiring in the United States next year will match or exceed 2003 levels.

While companies long ago began moving manufacturing jobs and other blue-collar work to Asia, big business is now increasingly shifting skilled work there as well. According to International Data Corp., foreign workers performed about 5 percent of information technology services for American companies this year, but by 2007, that share will grow to 23 percent.

Often, the American workers being replaced are called upon to train their overseas replacements. The same will be expected of IBM employees whose jobs are being transferred, according to the Journal.

IBM shares were up 76 cents at $93.47 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites).

[adam_az]

However, the fate of some of the targeted jobs isn't certain: IBM managers still haven't figured out whether all of the work the jobs represent can be performed just as well abroad. The jobs involve updating and improving software for IBM's own business operations.

Some workers are scheduled to be informed of the plan for their jobs by the end of January. After that they will be expected to train an overseas replacement worker in the U.S. for several weeks. The IBM workers marked for replacement have 60 days to find another job inside the company, likely to be a difficult task at a time when IBM is holding down hiring.

I'm an ex-IBMer, I might be able to clarify what's going. It's maintenance programmers of IBM's internal systems, which are pretty bad as a general rule. The guys who get stuck on internal projects are usually there because they aren't good enough to do work for customers. I can tell you that based on first hand knowlege.

IBM is holding down hiring of NEW employees, but there is a separate internal job board for hiring WITHIN the company. You can bet that many of the better programmers will move around inside the company. Virtually everyone at IBM who has been in the company for a while has moved around quite a bit. It's inevitable.

If you don't find a job internallty in 60 days, you get the "voluntary separation" package, which I was able to get when I quit, because of departmental changes. It's very generous. I found another job (which I don't have to do any travel for!), and used my separation pay and unused vacation hours for a sizable downpayment on a house.

[templar]

These are just dirty "buggy whip" jobs that we don't need or want in our country. This will free up American labor to persue better, more important things.

[bassmaner]

It's a safe bet that IBM does millions (perhaps billions) of dollars worth of business with the fedgov. If the feds had any cojones, they would threaten to sharply curtain future contracts with IBM if they follow through with this plan that has detrimental short term economic and long term national security implications.

[alaskanfan]

I hope they start with C.E.O. and C.F.O.

[oceanview]

this is like posting "the sun rose today". tech companies do this month after month, 100s, 1000s, 10000s. I am surprised they made the information public.

[unixfox]

Is it just me or do I hear that giant sucking sound again?

[clamper1797]

I will be flying to North Carolina to interview with IBM next week ... please cross your fingers ... as I am

[Beck_isright]

I guess they didn't pay any attention to Dell's India disaster. Ah well, time to short IBM again.

[Benrand]

Howard Dean said that it is George Bush's fault that jobs are being shipped to the Soviet Union.

[Dan from Michigan]

THIS can kill us in 04.

[fourhorsemen]

More and more companies I speak with that have done this are finding that the benefits are overstated, and may in fact not even exist. They're finding shoddy programming, poor customer service, and escalating management costs. I'd bet that we'll see this trend decline in coming years.