Posted on 03/12/2016 4:11:16 PM PST by markomalley
Mass IT layoffs are often small and unnoticed. They are not on the scale of the Carrier air conditioning plant layoff; its Indianapolis facility, which currently employs 2,000 people, is moving to Mexico.
Hertz IT employees share two things with the Carrier workers: They were also angry, and they got the news on the same day, Feb. 10.
The Carrier layoffs arrived guillotine-like; the plant is closing, period. But IT layoffs are rarely like that. There are ambiguities and uncertainties and lifeboats for some, and so it was at Hertz.
In an early morning conference call, Hertz's IT employees were told by the CIO the firm was expanding its outsourcing work with IBM. It wasn't known then how many would lose their jobs or ultimately be hired by IBM.
But one month later, this much is clear: About 300 Hertz IT employees, most located in Oklahoma City, were impacted by this decision. IBM is hiring about 75 and those workers are expecting to receive offers today. The layoffs will begin this month and be completed by May 31, said Hertz. It's not yet clear if all the 225 or so employees who are not receiving job offers from IBM will be laid off.
After the conference call, employees were stunned. The reaction was, "We're screwed," said an IT employee, one of two interviewed, who requested his name not be used.
There was "anger, resentment," especially by employees who "sacrificed that work/life balance to keep things going here," said the employee.
Hertz took precautions. On the day that IT employees learned that their work was shifting to IBM, employees noticed Oklahoma sheriff patrol vehicles in the building's parking lot. They believed plainclothes officers were inside the building.
(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...
Absolutely depressing...
The effects of these layoffs will be felt for decades; the next generation is already foregoing marriage/families, and therefore buying homes (many can’t even commit to car payments, which now go out beyond five years). The open borders are to prevent the worst-hit areas from reverting to nature like Gold Rush ghost towns...
Why Trump is winning.
Trump wants to try to keep things domestic.
i’m surprised there are still americans doing IT
There is good evidence that offshored IT can be a slow loser. It stinks at innovation. This is where American brains tend to excel. Hertz has cooked up its seed corn.
I do it, and in fact a mostly-H1B contracting firm hired me. I still think in terms of innovation, of working outside the box. Sometimes this has pushed projects over planned effort, but also endowed them with qualities that will bode well for their future use. I don’t think in terms of just getting by, but in terms of excelling.
Security IT tends to be kept in house. Safer that way
This is true... and actually anything where leaks could really hurt is wiser kept in house.
I wonder if Hertz will find stuff that it thought was its own proprietary ideas showing up at, say, Avis? If I wanted to make a few rupees on the side that would be awfully tempting.
I mean, a sense of loyalty can mean something beyond a mushy feelgood.
I’m surprised I still have a job in IT.
This happened at another place I know. IBM has become the garbage dump of IT. Companies outsource to them because they don’t want to fire their own employees themselves and want IBM to be the bad guy.
IBM keeps Lotus Notes around. The worst email client I’ve ever run into.
It’s essentially gone now except for hosting some database stuff. Once the third party software is bought to host those, Notes will finally die.
Our Notes (and a ton of other things) admin left Friday.
Tens of thousands of good paying jobs that would have supported families now gone throughout Appalachia.
They could use the police because the cops knew that there was no chance that the Praetorian guard (the cops) was going to get canned.
The place I work was on Notes when I came to work in 2007. Everybody hated it but I was told it would be gone within a year. It ended up being more like 2-1/2 years to transition over to Outlook for e-mail and Microsoft Dynamics for database/reporting. Better by a significant margin.
As to Hertz IT, Hertz acquired two Tulsa-based rental companies, Dollar and Thrifty. A friend worked there in the IT area for web functions for reservations, discount programs, etc. According to what he says, Hertz still can't figure out how to integrate the systems yet he's going out the door at the end of April. Hertz has gone through several CIOs and it appears the latest CIO has selected IBM to help him keep his job.
Agreed
My experience has shown me that larger corporations don’t always have a sense of loyalty to their employees
Let me give my personal opinion on integrating systems.
Someone has to be recognized and accepted as czar of such an effort. Someone who steps forward boldly and gets his idea endorsed. I’ve been in that role more than once.
IF THIS CANNOT BE DONE we have an endless morass of turf guarding and no solution.
Very high paying jobs in IT.
So, when you move manufacturing overseas, you screw the American worker.
When you bring foreigners in here to steal good high paying jobs that can’t be outsourced, you screw the American worker.
Next?
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