Slashdot Mirror
IBM To Hire 2,000 More Veterans, Expand Tech Training Schools (axios.com)
Ina Fried, reporting for Axios: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty is among the tech leaders meeting Friday with President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Axios has learned. They'll discuss worker training. And IBM will announce plans to: Open 20 more of its P-TECH schools, which let students get a combined high school degree and associate degree in science and technology in as little as four and a half years. Hire 2,000 U.S. military veterans over the next four years and expand a program that trains and certifies veterans in the use of the type of IBM software often used by law enforcement, cybersecurity and national security agencies.
I guess I don't see how this will help domestic employment. In my world of IT, the next big thing is cloud/DevOps stuff and managing thousands of servers via automation. IBM barely makes hardware these days -- they do mainframes, storage and POWER systems. The only thing I can think of that would provide immediate military employment is maintaining Watson or whatever, watching over data that requires a security clearance.
IBM is basically rebranding itself as a "cognitive" Accenture/Wipro clone with an AI system, so what will all these graduates of the P-TECH schools actually do? Are they just going to add a few token US employees to their offshore outsourcing operations? Teach them to fly around the country in identical suits giving PowerPoint presentations to executives? I'd love to see domestic job growth in tech, but this seems like a PR stunt.