

IBM To North American Employees: To Keep Your Job, Move To India - ekrangel
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/2/ibm-to-north-american-employees-to-keep-your-job-move-to-india-ibm

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ricree
"Multiple IBM staffers have written in to SAI to claim the company has a
program in place of demanding deliberately difficult relocations, with the
company saying anyone who refuses to move will be considered a "voluntary
departure" and denied severance benefits."

If companies can legitimately do that, what keeps them from just throwing in
the paycut to drive workers away without the potential hassle of relocating
people?

~~~
time_management
I think it was Wozniak in _Founders at Work_ who described the proper way to
cut personnel costs, as Hewlett-Packard used to do. Everyone (including the
CEO) took at 10% pay cut, and got alternate Fridays off.

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dougp
Not surprising. This is the same company that gave a substantial portion of
its employees a 20% paycut when they were forced to start paying over-time
then acted like it was a pay raise because most employees work over 40 hours a
week.

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jrockway
> From the article: "It's more of a vehicle for people who want to expand
> their life experience by working somewhere else," said [an IBM] spokesman.
> "A lot of people want to work in India."

A lot of people want to move to a foreign country to make less money? IBM is
either lying, or the people they hire aren't very smart.

~~~
time_management
You could get smart people to move to Third World countries for 50-70 cents on
the dollar. Plus two round-trip plane tickets per year, 6 weeks of vacation
(with a guarantee that this perk persists upon return to the US), increased
leadership responsibilities and creative control, spousal job placement, and a
guarantee of the option to return to the US with at pre-cut pay, plus 25
percent, in 5 years (when the economy has improved). This might actually be a
very smart way of cutting personnel expenses in the short-term while giving
people an opportunity they'll enjoy.

If you don't offer such a package, your talent is going to vanish and you'll
only be able to send utter mediocrities overseas. No one with options is going
to move to another country while remaining a subordinate code monkey doing
grunt work for "the palace" an ocean away (which happens in branch offices of
many multinational companies). Which means that your New Delhi office will be
trained by the cast of Dumb and Dumber. Epic fail.

~~~
nihilocrat
_"the palace"_

Heh.

I can't agree more with your characterization. I work for a company whose main
office is overseas, and almost every single dealing with the central office
(especially if any work on their part is involved) is encountered with a "let
them eat cake" attitude. You get used to the idea that they don't think any of
the satellite offices exist.

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alecco
I don't like IBM at all, but this article sounds overblown and not properly
based. The original InformationWeek article sounds more realistic:

    
    
      The document states that the program is limited to "satisfactory performers who have been notified of
      separation from IBM U.S. or Canada and are willing to work on local terms and conditions." The latter
      indicates that workers will be paid according to prevailing norms in the countries to which they
      relocate. In many cases, that could be substantially less than what they earned in North America.
    

And that is quite a real option if they include other countries like Brazil or
Argentina.

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gamble
IBM is the Walmart of the consulting world - they'll do anything to ensure
their prices are the lowest. In a few years, they're going to consist of one
guy in New York forwarding mail to the other hundred thousand in India.

~~~
wmf
Since when does IBM have low prices?

~~~
alecco
Nevar: <http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/9/27/95759/4240>

------
known
I recommend to get license for a hand gun if you are moving to India.

~~~
Retric
That put's a new spin on:

"Multiple IBM staffers have written in to SAI to claim the company has a
program in place of demanding _deliberately difficult relocations,_ with the
company saying anyone who refuses to move will be considered a "voluntary
departure" and denied severance benefits."

