IBM to export laid off US workforce to India?

BANGALORE, INDIA: In the time of recession and job cut, IT giant IBM Corp has got a solution to retain the employees who face the lay off threat.

According to the company’s employee website Alliance@IBM, the IT giant had sent a circular to the employees giving them an option of working in emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil or other developing countries.

“In a new twist on career aid for former workers, Big Blue has created “Project Match” to encourage laid-off workers in the United States and Canada to relocate to take IBM jobs in India, China, Brazil or other developing countries,” it said.

According to the internal company document provided by an activist group trying to form a union, “The “Project Match” created by Big Blue would help its former employees in the US and Canada to locate potential job opportunities in growth markets where skills are in demand”, it said.

“Former employees will be contact with hiring managers at IBM units in countries including Slovenia, Romania, Brazil, Nigeria, the Czech Republic, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates,” said the document.

The document was received by the Alliance@IBM’s national coordinator Conrad from a worker who was recently laid off.

“The people who might do it are people who have come from those countries. Some young people might do it just to see a different country, but to expect or to think a long-term IBM employee with a family would do it is not very feasible,” said Conrad.

And, he noted that this initiative differs significantly from traditional overseas assignments, in which a worker goes abroad for a year or two, keeps his or her U.S. salary, and frequently benefits from perks such as living expenses or tuition for school-age children.

He predicts Project Match will have limited appeal. The company would also financially help the employees with moving costs and immigration assistance with visa issues and the like, said IBM’s employee website.

With massive layoffs already proceeding in India, a major question of How the company is going to accommodate the “Project Match”? So, is it that the so-called ‘third-world’ ambition of IBM is going to be the nemesis of its workforce in India?