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Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

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Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#311

Post by forgetsusername »

revelation wrote: post #42
rdtsc wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You may be right, but a good sign for whom, exactly? For the people who lost their jobs? For shareholders? For fans of IBM the company? For IBM. For shareholders. For people who are not laid off and still work there. > it's not the fault of the people who are being affected by this, as by and large they were not responsible for IBM's decision to get more and more into support and services. Is it surprising that IBM…

A company is it's employees. If IBM still has cheese slicer designers in 2016, it's because they failed to train them. The discussion we're having here is because there seem to be no repercussions to their failure.

>The discussion we're having here is because there seem to be no repercussions to their failure.

What do you mean? There are massive layoffs, a falling share price and lots of bad press. What other "repercussions" should there be? Should the government come in and shut the place down? Should it force IBM to keep all employees?

Again, what sort of "repercussions" should a company have when they make bad business decisions? The shareholders and employees have suffered, that's the punishment.

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#312

Post by negrit »

jacalata wrote: post #147
eru wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the new employer have to get a new H1-B from the lottery?

No, the H1B goes with the employee. They/you have to apply for a H1B transfer.

But the previous employer has to approve the transfert.

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#313

Post by saiya-jin »

im_down_w_otp wrote: post #184
toyg wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, sure, but mortgages and kids' needs tend to get in the way of philosophical and strategic thinking.

People with mortgages and kids don't move to new places where there's more, or at least more immediate, economic opportunity? Why not? Kids are mobile. Mortgages can be covered by tenants or by selling the property (usually). I only have kid (singular) and lack a mortgage, but I'd definitely move my family to a place with more opportunity if the well ran dry where we're at now. I wouldn't even hesitate or think twice…

let me tell you, moving away from all friends can be tough for a kid. some cope with it well, some not at all, most are somewhere in the middle. I know I didn't enjoy my experience to say at least...

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#314

Post by mseebach »

Sven7 wrote: post #275
JupiterMoon wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, your point is flawed and has no basis in reality. If many (read 10k-1000k order of magnitude depending on location size) skilled engineers are fired at the same time then things get really bad for engineers. * All the companies than need any engineering based work done can take their pick of the best. * But remember their normal recruitment channels are still open and feeding potential employees through. They may…

Also well worth reading about T.J Watson. IBM was one of the few American companies that had no layoffs during the depression in the 30's. Inventories built up. No sales. And he was almost fired. Once the recovery started every company and govt in the world wanted a computer and the rest is history.

That was only obvious in retrospect, and has very strong survivor-bias: it might as well have sunk the company, and IBM would have been completely unknown today.

Also, things are a bit different today: IBM is largely a services company, which doesn't lend itself well to inventory building. Also, they have struggled on the merit of their offerings, not the economical climate, for a very long time. Doubling down right now is not obvisouly going to end well.

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#315

Post by saiya-jin »

cpwright wrote: post #201
ggamecrazy wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can commute to NYC. It's a 1 hour ride on the Metro-North. It's not ideal but when times are hard you survive by any means necessary. It's also quite enjoyable. I get so much reading and personal time commuting on the train.

People do commute to NYC; but it sucks from Poughkeepsie. The train is not 1 hour, it is 1 hour 45 minutes. You need to drive to the station and park, figure at least 15 minutes. That also assumes you're going to be working very close to 42nd street. Otherwise add another 20 minutes for the subway/walking. You're lucky if this is going to be less than 2.5 hours each way. I live 38 miles north of the city; Poughkeepsi…

some time ago I read a study (sorry no links around) that people get used to almost anything, positive or negative, over time. With 2 clear exceptions:

- pets like dogs/cats always tend to raise happiness levels - daily long commutes to work tend to make people more unhappy (and of course it helps if you have the time for yourself and are nto constantly stuck at traffic jam)

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#317

Post by jjoonathan »

parenthephobia wrote: post #283
SilasX wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people are responding with historical examples of qualified people unable to find jobs, but I think that strengthens my point. If you can do aircraft stress analysis, you're qualified to do a whole host of technical jobs with very little retraining; it's just a matter of finding those who are willing to take a chance. You don't have to wait for another stress analysis job.

Examples of qualified people unable to find jobs are evidence that it's easy for qualified people to find jobs? You're going to have to explain this to me.

I think wishful thinking is a much more likely explanation.

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#318

Post by meggar »

moonlighter wrote: post #56

Meanwhile, IBM's CEO Ginny Rometty not only pocketed a salary of $1.6M in 2015, but also took a bonus of $4.6M. Not bad for 16 straight quarters of shrinking sales, evaporating profits and a falling stock price. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-ibm-s-ceo-w...

Watson should take over the CEO role.

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#319

Post by mirchibajji »

jzwinck wrote: post #274
Swinx43 wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is quite a harsh analysis but not too far from the truth. The limitations placed on H1Bs and the fact that you are really easier to exploit is one of the main reasons I have chosen in the past to go to a different country for work. If an H1B had the same rights as say a Tier 1 migrant in the UK you would see A LOT less abuse of this system. A Tier 1 migrant in the UK has total freedom over who they can work for.…

And how easy is it to get Tier 1 in the UK now? As an American, say.

Tier-1 General category is now closed. https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-general/overview I moved to the UK on a Tier-1 in 2010, and it was very straight forward, points based system.

Re: Reports Coming in of Big IBM Layoffs Underway in the U.S.

#320

Post by mseebach »

ransom1538 wrote: post #219
dredmorbius wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Among other factors mentioned: employer-specific skillsets. Technology jobs are very highly specialised. And I'm not just speaking of computer tech. I'm old enough to have seen several generations of obsoleted "gold tickets". Nuclear Engineering, future destroyed March 28, 1979. Freeway engineers, the freeway protests of the 1960s/1970s. Big Three auto manufacturers, dream destroyed with the first oil embargo, and su…

Regarding skill sets. I have only been in software 12 years or so, but I noticed a type of tech 'gamble'. Basically, when you decided to learn something in tech you are basically gambling that the tech will last. In 2007 many faced a simple decision: AS3 or iOS. Supposed you chose AS3. Then, worked on it from 2009-2012, quite profitably. Currently the AS3 job outlook is horrific, and all that knowledge is a waste. No…

There are gambles, yes, but they are microscopic compared to retraining from one kind of engineer to another.

If you have n years of AS3 experience (n=7? Or what happened between 2012 and now?) and find yourself unable to compete with people with the same n years of iOS experience, I humbly submit that something else is wrong. Never mind that AS3 is a dialect of ECMAScript, which I hear is still used in a few remote pockets of the web, that hard things about programming isn't about the language and the framework, it's managing complexity. I struggle to see how retraining to iOS is going to take more than a few weeks of systematic reading and practising (possibly taken on your own time), and little more than a few months on the job to be on par with people who have several years of experience.

But more important is all the stuff that isn't about programming at all: Being good at organising your work, communicating well, testing, making sure you understand the entirety requirements as they are intended and that your delivery fully satisfies the requirement etc etc. Someone with n years of programming experience should master those things, and these count very heavily when picking people for lead roles.

Anyway, bottom line: the difficulty of switching from AS3 to iOS doesn't map to the difficulty of switching from nuclear engineering to environmental engineering.

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