Software tech IBM has reportedly relocated about 80 US-based AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive) to the Indian office.

The shift was expected to occur in the third quarter of 2022. Before this, AIX development was split evenly between the US and India, but the entire group relocated to India before 2023. According to sources, the employees were “redeployed” and given an indefinite time period to locate a new position within IBM. The staff in “redeployment” are old, senior, eligible-for-retirement. Most of them found jobs at IBM elsewhere, while some were still stuck with no jobs at IBM or elsewhere. 

We reached out to IBM for confirmation of the news but have not yet received any input.

Age Discrimination at IBM:

Age discrimination in the tech sector was brought to light in September 2018 after it was revealed that IBM had fired over 20,000 American workers over 40, accounting for about 60% of all job losses made in the US during that time. IBM aimed to replace the older force with younger staff. However, several lawsuits claimed that IBM laid off their older staff due to ageism. In federal court in Manhattan, attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three former IBM employees claiming Big Blue fired them based on age discrimination.

IBM’s chief human resources officer, Nickle LaMoreaux, refuted claims that the business discriminates against older employees, a conclusion made by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. India, according to her, is a crucial market for business in terms of skill, innovation, and customers. Additionally, the tech giant’s talent pool now includes tier-2 Indian markets in addition to metropolises.

To make matters worse, IBM ceased disclosing age-specific demographic data about terminated employees in 2014 since access to that information would make it simpler to determine the median age of those subject to Resource Actions and redeployment. Reports revealed that IBM favoured millennial employees over ‘dinobabies’.

Numerous of the lawsuits have been resolved confidentially and without admission of guilt. For example, eight former employees who had sued IBM for age discrimination settled with the company a week ago while the terms were kept confidential.

Redeployment aims to push employees toward another internal role, which may include relocating, to save costs and bureaucracy for the business. They may also persuade staff members to leave on their own.

IBM withholds redeployment data from staff members and does not detail how internal jobs were filled via internal searches, with management’s help or without it, or by employees who opted to quit rather than wait.

IBM is actively hiring people with about three years of experience and fresher for positions like Risk and Compliance Analyst, Developer, Finance Lead, Package Consultant, Planning Analytics Consultant, Sailpoint IIQ professionals, and so on, among 3000+ positions in India. 

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