Just The News-
While older Americans are more likely to stay in the workforce longer than ever before, the iconic technology company IBM is facing allegations it replaced thousands of older employees with what executives called “new collar workers,” according to the latest episode of Sinclair’s Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.
IBM was once America’s tech leader as it revolutionized the computer punched card and, later, the personal computer or PC. However, it struggles today with perceptions it has become a dinosaur.
“IBM in recent years has been competing with a new brand of younger hipper tech companies like Google, like Amazon. And IBM has recognized that it’s got a reputation for being an older tech company,” said Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who represents more than 500 former IBM employees.
“A strategy that IBM has been undertaking for a number of years now is to try to systematically reduce the age of its workforce by getting rid of older employees, many of whom have been with the company for decades, and replacing them with younger employees,” Liss-Riordan said. more
It happened to 2 of my friends, each aprox 6 months after they turned 50.
subbed out to India. one is suing as we speak.
Gee, same as UPS.
izlamo delenda est …
Oh Yea, been going on for years.
^^^^^ 50 is the death number of years old ^^^^^
It’s the Pepsi generation.Young people
have wisdom & old boomers like me are dumb.
The Bible says something about this.The part
where everything is upside down backwards evil good
good evil………..
The telco used to do that as well. There was a woman at Florida Ave. who was supposedly a “Project Coordinator”. We didn’t have many projects, so we wondered what she was really there for — sitting in her nice office all day like a bloated toad.
Anyway, that was her REAL job — to fire technicians before they reached retirement age. It was a fiduciary thing, though. It had nothing to do with making a younger workforce.
If there’s anything about the telco it ISN’T innovation…
This is nothing new.
For a very long time, employment at IBM was a lifetime thing. They never laid off anyone…until 1993.
Coincidentally, I happened to be in Poughkeepsie getting inside info on new operating system developments (I worked for a system management software company and IBM needed to tell its customers that our software would be compatible with the new stuff on Day One). I had been there for a week and one morning when I got to their offices almost nobody was there. It turned out that they were attending an “all hands” meeting where those first-ever layoffs were announced.
You may have seen surprised people before, but few of you have seen so many utterly STUNNED professional people stumbling around zombie-like.
My relationships with a bunch of IBMers continued and this topic of older people being canned and younger people being hired was something we discussed more than once. IBM definitely absolutely DID swap out older people for younger ones, and it started over 25 years ago.
And then, at a different but very large global company, it happened to me in 2013 at age 64. I guess I lasted longer than most, though.
And “They “ wonder what causes work place violence ?
I remember when Circuit City announced that it was laying off the top 50% of earners, keeping the lower 50%. I knew the moment I saw the announcement, too bad I wasn’t in the market at the time. Less than 2 years to failure.
The top 50% are the performers. The bottom 50% are a mix of losers and cash register runners. The older employees are the ones with knowledge. But too many companies think only about next quarter.
@radioationman
50 is actually a good age for workers. They show up, they are still strong, and they want to work to get a bit of time away from their spouses. They actually have more time because their kids are mostly leaving the nest and they know how to treat a customer.
Uncle Al isn’t kidding… ’93… What a blood bath. I was still drilling holes in the ground for <$15/hr…
I picked up Linux around then… It killed many a company, including one of mine, but the skills… Useful even today… This is starting to wane… The API's remain, but it's all Docker containerized fakerey… I'm the grumpy old grey-beard…
Age discrimination….being old, along with being white are both accepted excuses for people to discriminate. Happens ALL THE TIME.
Yup, Disney dumping 50+ too. Four in one department in a little over a year. They make too much and medical insurance keeps going up with an older workforce. At least they don’t discriminate – women, men, black, white and Asian.
Oddly enough my new job is with a group of youngsters looking for organizational expertise, reporting methods, process flows etc. to grow their business.
It’s not personal – it’s strictly business.
Loyalty to America is in the toilet.
IBM is neck deep with the CIA.
Funny how this always happens when Democrats are majority in government.
When I was in the work force in San Franfreako, this was a running thread in the IBM culture. They usually got the golden handshake while they were still in their 50’s. We’d often get the young ones in who replaced them, and often they would have to call in the “experts” to help them out. They kept enough older ones around to do the training. Once that was completed, they were history. At the time, there was no competition for IBM – this was in the late 60’s and 70’s. Different scenario in today’s work force.
Been going for decades.
Older workers get paid more.
At my hubby’s office they got an older guy to retire. They brought him back because the young people who only have book knowledge are clueless in the actual job.
Try having stayed home to raise your kids then trying to find a job when they’re grown.
Businesses get around eeo by advertising would be nice job for college student and the like.
Is that an improvement?
Usually they’re getting rid of American workers & replacing them with duuh-versity.