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IBM Promises To Hire 25,000 Americans As Tech Executives Set To Meet Trump (reuters.com)
IBM Chief Executive Ginni Rometty has pledged to "hire about 25,000 professionals in the next four years in the United States" as she and other technology executives prepared to meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday. Reuters reports: IBM had nearly 378,000 employees at the end of 2015, according to the company's annual report. While the firm does not break out staff numbers by country, a review of government filings suggests IBM's U.S. workforce declined in each of the five years through 2015. When asked why IBM planned to increase its U.S. workforce after those job cuts, company spokesman Ian Colley said in an email that Rometty had laid out the reasons in her USA Today piece. Her article did not acknowledge that IBM had cut its U.S. workforce, although it called on Congress to quickly update the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act that governs federal support for vocational education. "We are hiring because the nature of work is evolving," she said. "As industries from manufacturing to agriculture are reshaped by data science and cloud computing, jobs are being created that demand new skills -- which in turn requires new approaches to education, training and recruiting." She said IBM intended to invest $1 billion in the training and development of U.S. employees over the next four years. Pratt declined to say if that represented an increase over spending in the prior four years.
I suppose they'd have to let go of 50K already here first as well.
...but I am unprofessional, so I guess I ain't getting a job at IBM.
They'll buy 50 companies with an average of 1000 US workers each, then lay half of them off.
The leopard doesn't change it's spots.
IBM's principle strategy for the past decade has been moving work to lower cost countries (layoffs), stock buybacks, and acquiring other companies; these lower costs, increase earnings per share, and starve R&D of funding.
H1Bs would count as "in the United States", after all.
Heard it before - they tout how many new hires they've brought in over the years. What they don't say is they do it through letting older, higher-salaried employees go. If you lay off one engineer that's been with the company 20+ years and making $120k, it's easy to hire one or two new college grads making $50k. I'd estimate the 25k new hires will be at the expense of 10k-12k experienced engineers.
I was lucky - I left IBM five years ago and six months before my entire team was moved offshore. A part of me still has fond memories of IBM, but it's heartbreaking to hear all the stories of really good, experienced engineers that have received top ratings year after year suddenly get a low rating with no explanation and let go two months later. It's happened quite a bit, and it's sad.
There used to be a movement to get a union going at IBM (Alliance@IBM), and on its website you could read a number of stories off the layoffs for younger or offshore replacements, but IBM eventually got to them and they folded.
And what do you know, some actors are still the same.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
Will Trump have time to meet with every one of them? That's a lot of executives!
Why IBM was so racist? Why didn't they bring jobs when Obama was a president. Why didn't they stand behind Hillary. They could h have promised a fraction of those jobs in Michigan, and Hillary could have won Michigan (lost by approx 10K votes).
Your comment seems half in jest, but then again so must IBM's statement be. Saying they will hire 25k professionals over 4 years is meaningless. They didn't say they will have a 25k net greater number of US professionals, just that they will hire 25k people over 4 years. With 84k US employees today (roughly), it would only take a 7.5% yearly turnover for them to hit that target with no net job increases at all. The only extra bit of information is that they intend their US workforce to be greater in 2020 than it is today, which would be true even if they only gain a few dozen jobs.
This type of PR drivel is only possible in a country with math education so poor there is a market for tip calculators.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
I was in IBM when during the 2009-2013 layoff debacle. They must have fired over 50K people over those years. And of course, the fallout of anyone with an once of talent leaving for greener pasture and higher compensation. So I guess they still come out ahead here. Fire ~50K, hire 25K.....
IBM is a seriously messed up company....
last I heard IBM only hired Americans for Sales. They were essentially a company you went to for access to cheap (usually Indian) tech workers, often on dubious H1-B visas...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
"Professionals", "vocational education", hmmm, high-tech janitors. Gotta keep that clean-room spotless.
It's even more interesting that Obama saved millions of jobs during his time in office and Trump could only save 700 out of 3000 jobs that went to Mexico.
than what they would have normally done.
Get rid of h1b, then find some way to stop straight outsourcing jobs. There are plenty of educated qualified unemployed and underpaid citizens.
need I give any reason? racism.
Why IBM was so racist? Why didn't they bring jobs when Obama was a president.
I think it's rather a lot more racist to keep people from getting jobs, which is what Obama was doing by keeping corporate tax rates high...
The reason why companies are doing this now, and did not under Obama, is that Trump is assuring all these companies the corporate tax rate is about to go down a lot, possibly even from being the highest on earth to near the lowest (15% in the end). That would mean quite a lot of corporate money freed up to use for new positions.
As a self-employed consultant, I know the prospects of a lower corporate tax rate led me to increase my charitable donations for the end of the year, for exactly the same reasons - I anticipate keeping more of the money I earn, so I intend to spread a lot of it around to help others.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Trump will refuse them to pay them when their contracts are up. Everyone will get the infamous "Trump Haircut" before this is all through.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
His 14" cow tongue.
When is all that talk about fake news supposed to go into effect? Hiring '25K people in the USA' is in no way equivalent to hiring '25K Americans' and in no way excludes hiring H1-Bs nor excludes contracting to a contracting firm and claiming you've hired everybody at the firm (that's often a selling point: Our firm has 9K years worth of graduate experience behind it). It also makes no mention on the amount of people you're going to fire (but at least the summary does make a note of that). Hire 25K, fire 30K, retire 7K?
Since the knowingly immoral interpenetration of the quotes was directly used to create the blatantly false headline, does that categorize this story as fake news? And people wonder why the trust in journalism has been near completely eroded.
Figure out a reason why this is terrible! We don't like Trump, therefore everything Trump does must be bad, so rationalize and come up with silly non-reasons why this is a bad idea! Cognitive dissonance theater!
The actual quote:
Ginni Rometty did not indicate that IBM would hire Americans. They would hire " 25,000 professionals in the next four years in the United States" - and Ginni did not specify "additional." For all we know they could be laying off 25K Americans and be bringing in 25K H1-B and L-1 workers to replace them.
Next paragraph:
See? It is nothing but DoublePlusGood DoubleSpeak.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
First Carrier and now IBM are treating Trump like a prostitute treats a john. Appeal to his ego while giving him absolutely nothing, just so Trump can tell his followers that he knocked off a piece and she was begging for it.
Meanwhile, he's doing photo ops with Kanye West at Trump Tower. 2017 is gonna be fun.
You are welcome on my lawn.
and I promise to quit masturbating.
... because this is a preemptive strike before the ass-chewing when he calls in the blue chips.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
a. invest 1 billion? yeah, plans will change is the earning are down.
b. 4 yrs. right, plans will change in 1
c. with over 250K employees, 1 billion over X years is about right for normal training the last 4 yrs for Fortune 200 companies.
IBM is telling trump to give them tax breaks, AND soften Trump on the H1B issue. It will likely work as Trump just wants a win and will not see the forest before the trees.
Think Carrier will layoff more next year--you'd bet it.
Think Amazon will go back to tax free in 2 yrs--you'd bet it (they'll try)
Think IBM will layoff and outsource more next year--you'd bet it
Think Apple will shift manufacturing back to asia next year--you'd bet it
Think Google will shift money back to Zurich next year-- you'd bet it
A lot can change in a year. Trump can get his "fake wins" next 3 months, but the companies will just revert back to business as usual w/tax breaks to boot--Trump will have no way to enforce these moves by next fall
A law is useless if you can't enforce it. And we ARE in a global economy, fact.
I was stealth laid off by IBM (merger, contract release) along with a couple hundred of my friends in August. Your axe is bloodier than most, IBM.
They have been and still are pivoting to a "we don't make anything" business services company.
Universities churn out "graduates" with participation degrees so that leftists can feel accomplished. Consequently, we need H1-Bs.
Will HR still pass over vocational education people?
Say we want the 4+ year piece of paper so no job for you?
and so on?
Most EC votes are bound, EG: They must vote the way they are told.
That said, those that voted for President Elect Trump knew exactly what they were voting for - and that's what they want. While I question the wisdom of their vote, I don't question they were simply uninformed of the consequences. My only worry is that Mr. Trump will turn out exactly as bad, or worse, than I expect. Just as Mr. Trump is president of the whole country, so am I bound to the consequences of the votes of those I vehemently disagree with. My only little ray of hope is that I'm mistaken, and those I disagree with were right.
But I don't think that's going to be the case.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
I left IBM five years ago and six months before my entire team was moved offshore.
Right, but after five years enough time has passed for IBM to realize what a mistake it is to move so much offshore, to get rid of so many experienced people.
Obviously not all of those jobs are coming back, but I have always thought that after a long period of offshoring the pendulum would swing back the other way, and companies would start ramping up hiring in the U.S. again - especially for more experienced workers who can get quite a lot done but also much quicker being local.
I don't find it too hard to believe any company would have second thoughts about a lot of offshore work, having worked with a lot of remote offshore teams myself in the past... nothing against technical workers from other countries who I know have their own share of highly qualified technical workers, but the offshoring company quality was form my experience very low.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Hiring 25,000 employees in the US doesn't mean increasing IBM's number of employees in the US or that the "new" employees will be US citizens or even living in the US when they become employees, i. e., H1-B visa employees, or renewing contractor employees on a one year contract. Maybe somebody has asked or should ask what will happen to the number of full time, current US citizens that will be added to their employment roster, the change in its total number of US based employees, as well as other relevant questions, and get weasel word free answers.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
...and build a wall out of them.
Table-ized A.I.
Most EC votes are bound, EG: They must vote the way they are told.
Depends, in some states, if you read the laws, they can be punished after, but the vote remains valid.
More importantly, in 21 states there are no laws, and that is more than enough to swing this election.
That said, those that voted for President Elect Trump knew exactly what they were voting for - and that's what they want. While I question the wisdom of their vote, I don't question they were simply uninformed of the consequences.
I do question their information. Lots of folks didn't realize a thing about Trump, and only gave a superficial examination. Even worse, I've seen people claim that they didn't care what happened, they just hoped he broke the system.
Just as Mr. Trump is president of the whole country, so am I bound to the consequences of the votes of those I vehemently disagree with.
Nope. You are bound to the limits of your conscience. My state makes that express in its constitution, and thereby ascribes the role of ultimate arbiter to the people in their individual persons, but it is true in those others that don't say it.
Can't get around minimum wage.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Well said, sir
What's really funny is you call bullshit but can't back it up.
What else do expect from IBM?
Trump could only save 700 out of 3000 jobs that went to Mexico.
Did you already take the 400 R&D jobs that were never planned to move into account? I seem to recall the number was even lower.
Used to be IBM policy to stay out of politics, but did you read Rometty's fawning open letter to Trump after. There's a copy on the IBM website, too, but I suspect the main effort was emailing it to all the employees to keep them quiet. At least one employee did respond by quitting.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
IBM has bled talented people for quite a while and sacked a lot of others. They probably got rid of quite a few more people than they can actually afford at the moment and now can sell re-hiring some of them as great contribution. And in a year or two, they can quietly fire most of them again.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
"He'll do his little angry dance"
What we need is Trump doing Ballmer's Monkey Dance. Now that would be an youtube sensation.
Zero benefits, no health insurance, and like everyone else in Trump's America (other than Trump), they'll be working every Saturday for straight pay.
Just like my local grocery store - part of a very large national chain - everyone is part time, except the manager. #MAGA
My guess would be that they intended to do whatever they where intended to do anyway, so regardless if Trump or Hillary or even Sanders would have become president, they would have done the same thing.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
... repeats? IBM loves despots, evidently. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
They are the worst offender of the outsourcing and don't actually produce any products anymore. They have sold most of their major product lines to the Chinese and the product lines that they still produce themselves are ancient crap.
I used to work for these fudge packing bastards. For kicks one day I opened the address book for in.ibm.com and it crashed my computer since most of their people are from india now. Of course it was a terrible computer with a 14inch CRT monitor that was 15+ years old.
Companies like IBM are just part of the problem. They don't produce any useful products nor any jobs and the profits that they make (which are huge) are just siphoned off by the executives. They are just an economic parasite that provide nothing to anyone.
Heck IBM even did business with the Nazi's. They are ruthless and disgusting. The people they do employ in the USA are paid VERY poorly and treated like slaves.
It's even more interesting that Obama saved millions of jobs during his time in office
Obama didn't save any jobs. Jobs have been replaced with lower-paying jobs.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I'm glad to see all the skepticism. 15 years ago I was laid off after working over 8 years with Sprint as a software developer.
I worked with a talented group of 12-15 developers in Atlanta that developed sales support software. We were actually not officially part of IT. About 6 months before the layoff, our group was officially pulled into IT. A few months later, corporate management turned over management to IBM. Shortly thereafter, my direct manager and about 1/2 of our group was laid off. Those that remained had to bring a group of Indian workers up to speed on our projects, or risk loosing there jobs. Slowly over the years most of the remaining coworkers have left to find work else where.
IBM is only pandering to Trump. They don't care about keeping work in America. They only care about the bottom line. I believe that we can expect to see more of the same from IBM, in the future. If they hire American workers, it will be people right out of school that they can hire a bargain rates, so they can brag about how they are supporting Trump. I expect to see more and more companies doing the same. IBM only cares about the bottom line.
With most of Trump's picks coming from the corporate world I expect to see change, but not in a positive way.
IBM says they will spend $1 billion on training. They also want the U.S. to ramp up vocational education benefits and obviously if Trump is involved, he'll throw tax incentives at IBM. Who will benefit? IBM stock will rise. Trump will raise his little hands in triumph. "Capitalism Wins" or that's how the story will be told. And this whole time I thought corporations did it all on their own.
I wouldn't believe Rometty if she said the sky was blue. Most of IBM's plan seems to be to move everything offshore. Maybe they will hire 25000, but if they do it will be because they laid off 50000.
Youd be putting people on Mars in 10 years, or back on the moon in 5.
I have it on good authority he told IBM (and others) that their H1B supply is getting cut off. Some of the freemarket types are complaining that he's fascist and a central planning socialist and .... of course, most of the people complaining have jobs. And you can't have a bully pulpit without a bully.
we dont need companies that create jobs... we need companies that create CAREERS.
I can get a job anywhere... provided i dont mind that it'll only last 6 months.
IBM Promises To mis-classify 25,000 American contractors to avoid payroll taxes...
No, what's interesting is that initial jobless claims have been at the lowest level since the 1970's. Is that going to continue under Trump?
Its an obvious lie by IBM, they learned well from the nazi's how to lie, or perhaps taught them.
What this likely means...
Is that when the churn occurs, they will hire Americans instead of H1B visas. But there is a reason for this. Many government agencies are applying pressure on contractor firms to no longer use H1B visa holders. And that the awards of future contracts may in part be based on those who have the higher percentage of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
So essentially, they could be saying "We have 25,000 government contracting positions for which we are being told that employing H1B visa holders can jeopardize the awarding of contracts. So for these contracts, when an employee leaves, we will replace them with U.S. workers."
I'm starting a landscaping business.
That's what my brother did when he was unemployed for two years (2009-10) and used his unemployment benefits to become a landscape designer. Except his last job wasn't working in tech. He spent 30 years as an auto body specialist and his doctor refused to certify that he was disabled in the knees.
Do they really need that many janitors? I mean, it's not as if they're going to hire tech people. IBM has already shoved most of those offshore.
Above modded down - typical for /. It's now a bizzare cross b/w Huff Po and Stormfront.
Anyway, Trump will have to get commitments from the CEOs totaling 2x or 3x the population of the US, if he wants to end up at a point where everyone is employed
Parsing out that statement, it's pretty difficult to tell what IBM is defining as "professionals" and whether this will be a net increase of US jobs. I've never worked for IBM, but know a lot of current and ex-IBMers. Their MO for ages has been to move all technical work that can possibly be done offshore to low-cost countries and firing all the people in the US and Europe. Because of the shareholders demanding blood every quarter, in my opinion they're too far gone down the road of brain-drain -- it's no longer in their culture to hire and pay smart engineer types.
The other thing to note is that IBM is currently in the process of gutting its actual hardware and software businesses -- they're going down the management consulting road, trying to sell Watson and similar stuff to gullible executives. In that case, if they're going to that model, hiring 25k "professionals" might not be a big deal for them -- they'll be PowerPoint delivery specialists. I also know a lot of current and former Accenture-type employees. Don't expect those professionals to be doing anything resembling technical work. The consulting business model is tailor-made to high-achieving students -- it works exactly like school:
1. Take the top x% of grads from the top y% of universities and offer them jobs as "associate consultants" -- paying a semi-decent salary
2. Indoctrinate them into the corporate culture -- teach them how to talk, how to dress, etc. in orientation.
3. Fly said consultants around the country 45 weeks out of the year delivering PowerPoints, project managing, and sending any actual work to offshore "delivery centers".
4. Structure the company in an up-or-out fashion, exactly like school, and have the associate consultants jump through the appropriate hoops to get to the next level -- this keeps salaries low because the hoop-jumping takes time.
So, these professionals are most likely going to be the consultant-robots you see in their standard-issue Accenture suits, waiting in the airline lounges for the 75th flight of the year...not engineers.
No, what's interesting is that initial jobless claims have been at the lowest level since the 1970's. Is that going to continue under Trump?
Who knows? This doesn't contradict what I'm saying, though. If you're underemployed, you may still be ineligible to collect unemployment. Your same source says that jobless claims are currently "above market expectations".
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
It is interesting that O'l Donald is already doing more for the American economy as president elect, that Obama did as president in his last term.
Above modded down - typical for /. It's now a bizzare cross b/w Huff Po and Stormfront.
I get karma points for bad mouthing Obama or Trump or Clinton and then later I lose them bad mouthing Trump or Clinton or Obama. Or maybe I have those backwards, I'm not sure.
Anyway, Trump will have to get commitments from the CEOs totaling 2x or 3x the population of the US, if he wants to end up at a point where everyone is employed
If IBM says they're hiring 25,000 people the subtext is that they're firing 50,000. I personally thing that AC wins this thread.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I believe it wasn't what they wanted that drove them to Trump, it was what they did not want (i.e. Hillary). This will literally be the prime example for years to come as the "lesser of two evils" that I have ever seen.
Is it a conflict of interest that IBM is Thomson-Reuter's outsourcing partner for IT services?
It's even more interesting that Obama saved millions of jobs during his time in office
Obama didn't save any jobs. Jobs have been replaced with lower-paying jobs.
Uh... Jobs is dead. May he rest in peace.
The "nice" thing about post-fact politics is that you don't need to keep your promises.
Tell that to the people in auto industry related jobs - about 3 million of them.
IBM = I've Been Mislead
AND this was Obama saying this, wanna bet the media and 99% of liberals would be championing this? But, that wasn't Obama's mission...to try to stimulate job growth. His was to try to continue to destroy the USA.
"Obama didn't save any jobs. Jobs have been replaced with lower-paying jobs"
All those auto industry jobs saved were lower paying jobs?
Plus which 2000+ jobs did you think Carrier is sending to Mexico? The lower paying jobs or the higher paying ones?
The jobs lost were disproportionately minority; therefore racist. At least that's what everyone else always says when something affects minority people a bit more.
Don't take it up with me, take it up with everyone else that uses the term in that way... they are the ones that demand I do so.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No need to imagine. Just look at some of those opioid addicted communities in the rural areas and trailer parks. You know, the areas that went for Trump.
after they fired him...and it was only a temp job...to help the translator write work instructions in Chinese...
I suppose they'd have to let go of 50K already here first as well.
Also, the quote only says that they will hire 25,000 employees "in" the US. There's nothing in that statement to say that those employees have to be US citizens.
All those auto industry jobs saved were lower paying jobs?
Compared to the tech jobs that we continue to read about being lost by the tens of thousands approximately quarterly?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
She just stated that IBM intends to "hire about 25,000 professionals in the next four years in the United States", there is no mention that those hires will be US citizens. I image about 80% or more of those hires will be H1Bs... Nothing new here..
ZZ
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
You should stay away from children
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^3
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
You shouldn't be allowed near children...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^4
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Is this why you had to leave the U.S.? Who are you running away from? Inquiring minds want to know...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^5
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
We already know, but thanks anyway
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^6
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
The whole world's watching
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^7
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Wait till all your friends, and the cops see this...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^8
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
IBM has always been into politics
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^9
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
You are still wrong about IBM. Doesn't matter if you worked for them. Maybe you were kicked out for the things you try to project on me and others. I can see why you had to leave the U.S.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^10
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
This discussion is closed
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^11
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
You pervert!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^12
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Now get lost!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Z^13
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.