January 6th, 2009
A New Year and layoff rumors start flying for IBM and Microsoft
Overheard at the electronic water cooler….
Check out the Alliance@IBM website for some interesting reading. IBM employees smell upcoming layoffs around the third week of January and they’re nervous. There’s a lot of detail (e.g., specific office locations, headcount changes, etc.) in their postings, too much if you ask me. Either these employees are really paranoid or there are few secrets in that company.
If there’s any truth to the rumors around Microsoft, then Microsoft will try to beat IBM to the layoffs a week earlier. Check out this story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer . It does a good job of playing back the headcount concerns some on Wall Street have about Microsoft.
Network World also weighed in on the matter and its sources indicated that contractors to Microsoft would feel the heat more than employees.
But, let’s remember one critical thing: These are rumors not facts. Only the management of these firms knows the real story and they don’t seem to be confirming anything these days.
Rumors about layoffs always peak during a weak economy. Employees are understandably nervous and contractors are usually more vulnerable than employees. Before long, we should see the rumors swirling about every major systems integrator, outsourcer, software vendor and hardware firm.
Got any rumors you’d like to share?
This blog explores the intersection set between services and technology. If it impacts either space, it will be covered here. Brian Sommer is a former Accenture partner. He did an 18-year tour of duty there and ran three small practice units (Finance Center of Excellence, HR Center of Excellence and Software Intelligence). He’s sold service projects in almost every continent and remains just as current on both services and technology today as ever before. Brian is currently CEO of TechVentive, a strategy consultancy servicing technology providers, and a research analyst with Vital Analysis. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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