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Showing Original Post only (View all)Inside IBMs Purge of Thousands of Workers Who Have One Thing in Common [View all]
Inside IBMs Purge of Thousands of Workers Who Have One Thing in Common
Age discrimination is an open secret like sexual harassment was.
Peter Gosselin and Ariana Tobin
Mar. 22, 2018 6:00 AM
This story was published in partnership with ProPublica.
For nearly a half century, IBM came as close as any company to bearing the torch for the American Dream.
As the worlds dominant technology firm, payrolls at International Business Machines Corp. swelled to nearly a quarter-million US white-collar workers in the 1980s. Its profits helped underwrite a broad agenda of racial equality, equal pay for women and an unbeatable offer of great wages and something close to lifetime employment, all in return for unswerving loyalty.
But when high tech suddenly started shifting and companies went global, IBM faced the changing landscape with a distinction most of its fiercest competitors didnt have: a large number of experienced and aging US employees.
The company reacted with a strategy that, in the words of one confidential planning document, would correct seniority mix. It slashed IBMs US 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 total US job cuts during those years.
In making these cuts, IBM has flouted or outflanked US 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 ProPublicas findings, IBM:
Denied older workers information the law says they need in order to decide whether theyve 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.
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.
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2018/03/ibm-propublica-gray-hairs-old-heads/
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Inside IBMs Purge of Thousands of Workers Who Have One Thing in Common [View all]
babylonsister
Mar 2018
OP
unfortunately IBM is not alone - many, if not most, corporations engage in similar practices
DrDan
Mar 2018
#3
and many, many CEOs adopted his management style - his impact was felt far and wide
DrDan
Mar 2018
#38
Re:"Grey hair in my beard"- I began having my hair professionally colored
No Vested Interest
Mar 2018
#72
IBM is not the only company guilty of age descrimination. Libert Mutual Insurance had a class action
infullview
Mar 2018
#10
I know I'm going to get flammed for this, but H1-B visas didn't make this any better either.
infullview
Mar 2018
#34
Enough that bumped into them on more than one occaision in software development and R and D.
infullview
Mar 2018
#59
SS offfices closing, offering workers early retirement & more for obvious reasons.
appalachiablue
Mar 2018
#39
"In Right to Work states they don't have to give a reason for termination."
WhiskeyGrinder
Mar 2018
#21
Brought tears to my eyes. I saw the writing on the wall way back in 1992
sinkingfeeling
Mar 2018
#26
my hubby was director of hospital pharmacy...same thing happened to him at age 60 and then a
samnsara
Mar 2018
#28
Ageism, racism, sexism & more seem wide open in this new conservative era.
appalachiablue
Mar 2018
#31
Engineers and computer scientists have to study about 10 hours/week to keep up
FarCenter
Mar 2018
#41
and training at IBM has taken a nasty turn - training is done on employee time - keep-up or ship-out
DrDan
Mar 2018
#43
IBM worked around the workplace laws for older ppl. Nothing but GREED. Shameful.
iluvtennis
Mar 2018
#51
Hubs was forced out a couple of years ago...he fought the last couple to save a shitty pension.
Demsrule86
Mar 2018
#61
This hardly sounds like the square-dealing corporation we've all come to know and love, does it?
BobTheSubgenius
Mar 2018
#65