How is IBM able to maintain such a consistent track record - This would also mean for every 4 people who get assigned a PIP, only 1 would fail and be terminated. With the increase in number of PIPs that are being assigned to avoid WARN notice and save on the severance packages, the number of employees who continue to grow at IBM should also increase. Is that happening?
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@jh
"You need to be proactive and force yourself into projects. ".
Easily said than done.
Especially, when facing the mafia of mediocrity that runs the show. It is silly to come up with new ideas, so the stupid architects claim their own, if you are not part of their tribe.
Worth trying, with very little hope.
@jb once you become too “expensive,” the work drys up. You need to be proactive and force yourself into projects. Also be vocal about the parts you are working on and document everything you do so that credit isn’t stolen or reassigned to someone else. Remember you probably an expert compared to your teammates. Doing this might give you a fighting chance but at very least gives you something to point to and cite if you are hit with PIP or RA and can help with actions after the fact.
@j5
I am a 50+ employee, the POS manager keeps hinting that there is very little work lined up for me and I need to come up with some creative work that might benefit. The lead architect is an incompetent id--t, he lacks vision. I am suspecting he was promoted to that position based on some ethnic criteria.
I have a feeling, there is little hope for any long term career at IBM.
I started a small business on the side. I do not think, it is worth the effort to seek any opportunity in the IT industry.
In the meantime, IBM pays for healthcare coverage, plus the meager salary that is not increasing.
I am mostly staying around, it will force IBM to pay a severance and extended health coverage. I do not plan to solve IBM and the POS manager problem by quitting quietly.
Did that give them grounds to not give you severance ?
I was put on a PIP, passed, then RAd immediately after
The corporate offices of Albany shook,
They hired a clever Piper to take a look
He piped a tune of success and growth,
To end the spiral down the hillock.
The Piper then cut the bell curve,
Asking to serve, serve and serve.
The staff went down the river of grind,
And left their morale far behind.
Next came the notice of low performer,
The Piper cashed out to be a reformer
This is how it works in software: Managers have to mark 15% of their teams as low performers, with an exit target of 5%, this means that 67% will pass the pip and 33 will fail. This is simply a way to layoff 5% of the workforce disguised as performance management. Most ppl end unfairly on these list because the percentages are not negotiable, the ones to be saved will pass the pip, the ones to be sacked will be terminated regardless of the actual outcome (managers can use any excuse to fail them), so the 73% is simply by design not a proof that PIPs work.
Totally false... PIP = layoff
If get piped you are marked. Doesn’t matter what you do. Best to plan you exit stat
So do yoi think it’s no coincidence team members suddenly got PIPs a week or so after the stock crash? Surprise pips no prior issues? Is it pointless to try to recover internally at the company at this point? I doesn’t seem like good faulty attempts to growth, more like convenient attempts at stealth layoffs to cut budgets? Don’t mean to be naive this is just first time I’ve seen this happening on our team. RAs in past years.
Let me start by stating the obvious: do NOT get su-kered into IBM propaganda. It has one purpose - make you work more for less money until IBM find you to be an inconvenience.
With that in mind, key thing about that BS PIP statement (assume it's even true) is that its from 2023.
That is when IBM consulting started 'bench PIP' in full swing. Those who is not familiar, it is generally when your utilization dips below certain percentage (e.g., 75%) of your year end target.
Obvious problem is that a consultant not a project is mostly due to Partners (or IBM exec) inability to sell enough work. Because IBM consulting has been shrinking, PIP is used to remove 'excess capacity' (or consultants) without paying respectable severance. Because of such BS, the people around the consultants who get PIPed staffs them first.
In other word, most of that BS 73% PIP should not even be in PIP in the first place.
Don't get fooled by IBM's branding or history. It is an amoral company that will maximize the benefit for its executives at the expense of its employees every day of the week (e.g., no 401k match). With the Q2 sh-t show, Arvind and its board don't seem to care much about shareholder either.
@am when will McKinsey jobs go abroad or to AI
@aj what a ridiculous question ! You can bet that once the 3 US jobs have gone to India and assigned to 10 Indians, those jobs are not coming back to the US. If those jobs are likely to shift to AI, Arvind and his crooks in IBM India HR will cook up some BS story to ensure that the Indians retain their jobs. It's a job protection scheme they have there.
A pity that the US Dept Of Labor doesn't have any such protections to Americans losing their jobs to these unfair and potentially illegal job transfer practices. Blame McKinsey as well for this state of things (globalization garbage).
@ag : is there an assurance that none of these 10 offshore employees would be piped out in next 6 months?
Recently, 3 decent developers from the team I lead have been put on PIP by the useless POS manager without consulting my opinion. After a month, they were fired, again without my knowledge. I am offered 10 Indians immediately instead of the 3 US based employees, I need to train them. Management is agreeing to a 6 month delay in solution delivery, as long as, we agree to train an Indian army of "engineers".
@OP The PIP is just a way to show you the door at IBM. I knew at least 8 folks who were put on PIPS in various divisions in the past 15 years. If you pass the PIP, then IBM management simply looks for another way to get rid of you - and voila, the layoff happens to you. There is no escape from IBM management brutality. Once they have your ID number, the management is relentless is cutting you down and out. A pity that they don't display the same level of competence when it comes to producing superior business results. Arvind comes to mind as one such incompetent manager and you just have to see the Q2 2026 results to know how much he is out of touch with reality. Maybe he should be put on a PIP by the IBM board of trustees and it would be well deserved punishment for his failures.
That quoted 73% pass rate is a fake number - it might have been from 20 years ago, not recently (in the past 3 years).
I always wondered how we calculate this? Do we count people who leave? Do they count people were laid off?