IBM to staff: Compulsory retraining and a ten per cent pay cut

Services giant demands that selected US staff undergo retraining, paying 10 per cent of their wage for the privilege

IBM has instigated a programme to force staff into retraining programmes - while cutting their pay by 10 per cent for the privilege.

A memo sent across IBM Global Technology Services picked up particular employees for the retraining - with the ominous message that they ought to find a job elsewhere within IBM "more suited to their skills" if they declined.

The memo tells the selected staff, "some managers and employees have not kept pace with acquiring the skills and expertise needed to address changing client needs, technology and market requirements". It continues: "You have been identified as one of these employees."

For six months, the staff will be expected to spend one day a week in retraining, from mid-October to the end of March, "to focus on learning and development". Pay will be cut by 10 per cent for the duration, but restored from the beginning of April 2015.

IBM claims that only "a few hundred" staff across the US will be affected by the programme. A spokeswoman told the New York Times, "This involves a very small number of people... we're working to preserve their jobs".

The company claims that the 10 per cent pay cut represents a "co-investment" by the staff and that the cost of the training is therefore being shared equally. Many staff who have worked at IBM for a decade or more may not have the skills in mobility and cloud computing, claimed the company, that they need today.

IBM staff, however, speaking anonymously did not share that positive view. "It seems like a cost-cutting exercise that is being presented as a training programme," one told the New York Times.