Posted on 04/01/2018 8:41:46 AM PDT by catnipman
It slashed IBM’s U.S. workforce by as much as three-quarters from its 1980s peak, replacing a substantial share with younger, less-experienced and lower-paid workers and sending many positions overseas.
ProPublica estimates that in the past five years alone, IBM has eliminated more than 20,000 American employees ages 40 and over, about 60 percent of its estimated total U.S. job cuts during those years.
In making these cuts, IBM has flouted or outflanked U.S. laws and regulations intended to protect later-career workers from age discrimination, according to a ProPublica review of internal company documents, legal filings and public records, as well as information provided via interviews and questionnaires filled out by more than 1,000 former IBM employees.
Among ProPublica’s findings, IBM:
Denied older workers information the law says they need in order to decide whether they’ve been victims of age bias, and required them to sign away the right to go to court or join with others to seek redress.
Targeted people for layoffs and firings with techniques that tilted against older workers, even when the company rated them high performers. In some instances, the money saved from the departures went toward hiring young replacements. Converted job cuts into retirements and took steps to boost resignations and firings. The moves reduced the number of employees counted as layoffs, where high numbers can trigger public disclosure requirements.
Encouraged employees targeted for layoff to apply for other IBM positions, while quietly advising managers not to hire them and requiring many of the workers to train their replacements.
Told some older employees being laid off that their skills were out of date, but then brought them back as contract workers, often for the same work at lower pay and fewer benefits.
(Excerpt) Read more at features.propublica.org ...
I got cut in 2006 after training my four Brazilian replacements. They laid off 1500 people over the age of 55 in one day from my division. We had to sign a statement saying we wouldn’t sue them or we didn’t get our severance pay.
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and of course your local politicians took this on....
This sounds like what has been happening at that Bentonville based retailer for the last couple of years.
I wonder if IBM even cares that they are shedding their best n brightest?
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They didn’t care in the nineties and they don’t care now. Very poorly managed company from a value perspective.
“Hey Bill, I have an idea. We can replace these old guys debugging FORTRAN and COBL legacy projects with young guys from India and save a bundle....”
Yep. Look at what Disney did.
We worked with IBM Equipment in the 80s as contract workers. IBM would go in and screw up a bid, and we would fix software to fit... we had clients across a number of industries. We expanded and did very well.
Went to get a house loan. As contractors of 8 years standing with great employment record, had to go through a proctology exam to get the loan. They were reluctant and added a point.
ten years later, after the 90s IBM layoffs, we were welcomed into the banker’s office and it was stated that we were great customers, because we had a client base across a number of industries.
“The greatest pool of under/non-utilized talent in the world are displaced professionals over 50. If you are a technical and laid off after 50, you are probably done career wise.”
I would say done in the corporate world. I have my own small consulting firm and most of my team is made up of people like that. Great skills and wisdom far beyond what the younger kids bring to projects for the big firms.
I teach myself what I need to know for the work we do (technical and business skills), and help them to learn also. We actively look for people who are sick of the IBM’s of the world
Our country is becoming the Third World; these foreign hordes are taking these jobs HERE. Out in Morris County NJ and down by Philly PA I’ve seen whole housing developments filled with Indians (not just tech workers - now they import them for financial services as well). Every housing unit told a story of a laid-off American that wouldn’t find work again in those necks of the woods; these weren’t new housing, but older developments that had been emptied of Americans as they were replaced by Asians. I see more and more “Oriental” Asians in finance as well - woe to any young Americans in those majors today.
Our country is becoming the Third World; these foreign hordes are taking these jobs HERE. Out in Morris County NJ and down by Philly PA I’ve seen whole housing developments filled with Indians (not just tech workers - now they import them for financial services as well). Every housing unit told a story of a laid-off American that wouldn’t find work again in those necks of the woods; these weren’t new housing, but older developments that had been emptied of Americans as they were replaced by Asians. I see more and more “Oriental” Asians in finance as well - woe to any young Americans in those majors today.
“I wonder if IBM even cares that they are shedding their best n brightest?”
They care... about the share price. The risk analysis of losing good people is acceptable which is why they do it.
IBM had a big cutting of heads last week.
It all started to go bad for IBM when they pushed OS2 and decided they could make $$$ as a Service Company.
Many hardware companies have collapsed by trying to tell customers that it was their way or the highway.
Sun Microsystems for one.
MIPS for another.
Apple nearly died following IBM’s lead on PowerBS.
The latest stuff IBM is building is very good but I fear it is way too late.
IBM is not stupid. Every HR professional knows what the EEOC laws are and follows them to the letter in any big company. If IBM is ever proven to have done anything wrong I will revise my opinion but otherwise I’ll say this is a combination of sour grapes and yes, “unfair” treatment, but it falls short of being a violation of federal discrimination law.
Didn’t realize IBM was still in business.
Well, the reality is that the U.S. pay scale must adjust in order to be competitive with the rest of the world.
Car Co.s have had to do it and employees will need to do this as well.
Corporation are legal fictions, created by law, and are therefore the only _children_ of government. Government is much more concerned and interested in these fictional creatures, than real human beings; so too are many here on FR.
DC and other components of government, require, coerce and bribe corporations to operate in enumerable ways which are contrary to the benefit of USAians.
Exactly. They’re stealing the wealth and infrastructure that we built.
Part of the reason why Millennials can’t find jobs is the trades and entry level positions have been taken by H1B immigrants who never advance. Then these people send the money back home as remittances.
I’m not so sure they are following the letter of the law, and in any case, the law is dependent upon guidance and enforcement by the Feds.
I think that the tech companies have spent a lot and worked a lot to buy cover with the Federal Government, especially when Obama was in office. Now that there is a new President, this may all change...
Well, the reality is that the U.S. pay scale must adjust in order to be competitive with the rest of the world.
Car Co.s have had to do it and employees will need to do this as well.
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perhaps the rest of the world needs to increase wages to match US wages?
This happened to my father whoe worked for Unisys. The company moved him from and the family from California to PA, then six months later tossed him aside for three younger employees. All he could do was take it to arbitration. He lost of course... Took another Senior Systems Analsyt job at 30 percent less pay to keep the family fed. It killed him. He died of cancer within a year. Unisys had a hand in that... imho.
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