This just ticks me off...

I weep for the future, and the uncertainty that it holds.......

Way to go, IBM. You REALLY SUCK.

Thanks,

Me.
Published 29 June 2005 11:08 AM by eking1013

Comments

# Travis said on 29 June, 2005 11:17 AM
This does suck, but like Dell's move a couple years ago like this, they will learn the hard way.
# Indiasux said on 29 June, 2005 11:58 AM
Your right, IBM does suck. Probably some CTO or VP at IBM read an article and didn't realize impact. Maybe I'll hit one of those guys that they hire in India up for some source code for $10 bucks and post it somewhere.
# Vurg said on 29 June, 2005 12:40 PM
I feel sorry to those affected. Wait a minute, that's me! Damn you IBM!
# brady gaster said on 29 June, 2005 12:46 PM
AMEN. I totally hear you and support your position, Eric. Guess they'll get what they paid for in the end. Wachovia, a local bank here in Charlotte, just did the same thing, too.
# Josh said on 29 June, 2005 01:26 PM
I disagree. I'm in the same boat as you are, but its not our job. IBM as the employer owns that. If we don't innovate and adapt as an industry and a group, we will become obsolete. Do you say that about textile industry when they close a plant because they can't compete with foreign competition?

I could be laid off tomorrow and my job done by a Vietnamese, Chinese, Philippine, or Indian. That means either a) I am not adapting and my employer believes I am not bringing them value, or b) the employer is foolish. If the answer is a--then I may as well find a different line of work, but if it is b, then there are many fish in the sea.

I certainly don't want to lose my job, but I also would hate to become dependent upon the government to protect my job like the textile and agriculture industry's have.

If IBM has made an error in judgment--which they may well have--the market will punish them. If you are still employed at this point, you made it through 2001, 2002, and 2003: By far the hardest years in the industry in the last ten. It can certainly get worse. My worthless advice, don’t waste your time complaining—learn a new technology.
# Wallym said on 29 June, 2005 01:29 PM
Eric,

Might I make a point here without attempting to offend you. I believe that you still work at UnumProvident, though I have not kept up info along those lines. In my mind, let me tell u about something that really gets me. Its companies that claim that they can't find developers with the appropiate skills, yet the companies will only work through body shops. Well, top notch developers don't work thru body shops, its that simple. This has happened to us when attempting to deal with UnumProvident. We had someone referred to us from UnumProvident about 6 months ago. The response that came back was great, but you have to come work through this body shop. While that doesn't work for many reasons.

I don't like it, but its a fact of life. Get my meaning. :-)

Wally
# Eric King said on 29 June, 2005 03:34 PM
Well.......

1. UnumProvident is a large corporation. We have about 850 folks in our IT org. Within the "sub" organizations of IT, where the developers are, you have several VP's. I can only think of one or two orgs where they might do that. I personally was hired straight into the company. When our team is hiring, we usually just look through submitted resumes, and our boss asks around if we on the team know anyone looking for a job. It sounds like your experience wasn't a good one, and for that, I empathize. I'm in no way offended. I knew some teams around here used certain "staffing firms" to find new hires, but I didn't realize that they were using them exclusively. That sucks. I just thought they were using them as one possible avenue.

2. Josh makes a couple of valid points, but I think that Josh is missing the point. I can very easily "adapt". I am great at that. I be "agile". No problem. What I CAN'T do, however, is feed a family of 4, make my mortgage payment and 2 car payments on seven dollars an hour. If you actually buy in the knee deep BS about there being a "shortage of qualified candidates", then I've got some ocean front property I'd like to sell you........

We live in America, and in America capitalism rules. It's ALL about the almighty dollar my friends. It's a harsh lesson I've learned working for a publicly traded company. If you can fire thousands of employees and replace them for 1/4 of the cost, then you've just made your bottom line look really good. Yeah. THAT's what stock holders want to see......

So remember kids, it's all about the almighty dollar, and making your stock value go up.
# Wallym said on 29 June, 2005 03:48 PM
Geez, I wish I could type what I mean. :-)

I wasn't looking to be hired as an employee of UP. Someone with a project/need @ UP was referred to me. I have a company. I have several other customers. I want to add UP as a customer. I talked to them a couple of times. Everything went silent after it was stated that I HAD to work through a body shop. I run into this issue all the time. I'm not trying to create an argument, and I don't think that you took my remark that way. :-)

Since you've got teams that are needing help, throw our name into the ring as a resource that can be used. :-)
# jayson knight said on 29 June, 2005 04:54 PM
Unreal.
# Charlie Barker said on 09 July, 2005 07:04 AM
This is a global market place, rubbishing indian developers isn't going to help your cause it's akin to sticking your head in the sand. That said the real high value analysis work cannot be exported only the 'donkey work' (just a term not meant to be derisory) so all is not lost unless all you can do is program.

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