IBM strips off 700 jobs to beat NY Warn act....

January 28, 2009
EAST FISHKILL — Weeping workers packed up their belongings and were walked out the door by managers Tuesday as IBM slashed about 10 percent of its work force in the mid-Hudson Valley.

By Tuesday evening, 700 employees in East Fishkill and 100 in Poughkeepsie had lost their jobs, multiple sources said, with more layoffs expected Wednesday. The sources said 85 percent of those let go Tuesday are 40 or older.

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The job cuts came only days before Feb. 1, when a new state law, the New York WARN Act, goes into effect requiring employers to notify workers 90 days in advance of losing their jobs. "They're sidestepping that," Conrad said.

Some laid-off workers said they received 90 days' notice, while others said they were only given 30 days.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090128/BIZ/901280340

And all this after making big gains.
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IBM posts record revenue, profit for 2008
"The fourth quarter wrapped up an exceptional year in which we delivered record revenue of over $103 billion, record profit of $16.7 billion, record earnings per share of $8.93 and record free cash flow of $14 billion, up almost $2 billion year to year. That's a lot of records," he said.
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http://www.lohud.com/article/2008901210324

This will have a major effect again on the Hudson Valley & its families.

When employees quit during better times.

They can boot you out in the same day, but you have to give them 2 weeks? Really? It's not like they're actually going to replace you in that time - it typically takes far longer than that to get someone else in the door. So what, precisely, is the friggin point?

In the past when I took a new job I made it clear that I am looking to move up and if I feel the job is stagnant or there is little to no chance of promotion then I will find another job. I make this clear during the interview and I also let them know that when I find a new job I switch immediately with little to no notice. Every single time I have told an employer I was leaving the only thing I have been asked is how much is the new company paying to see if they can match, if they do try to match I never take it because it tells me they had the money but were not willing to give it to me till I was leaving and I don't want to work for someone who I have to threaten with leaving to get a decent raise or promotion.

every now and then Pfizer comes out and mentions layoffs in number but in reality they've been laying people off at all sites for months, just in small enough batches that it doesn't trigger the act.

Now Pfizer has decided to "partner" with Wyeth. I know people that work for Wyeth and everyone knows what it means when Pfizer is going to "partner" with your company. Wyeth folks are going to join the ranks of the Pfired.

Pfizer used to be a company that could be admired for at least the morale of it's employees, now I don't know of a Pharma company that's more despised by the people that work for it.