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IBM starts cutting employees after first earnings shortfall in 8 years

IBM Engineers

For decades, International Business Machines Corporation, better known as IBM, has been one of the most solid representatives in the tech world from a purely business perspective. As the global restructuring plan that they announced two months ago starts to take effect, what does it tell us about the tech industry in general?

It isn’t just the executives or the base level employees that are getting cut, a distinction that often covers the cuts that companies make. Both ends of the spectrum are at risk. This move comes after their first earning shortfall since 2005 when they missed projections by $.05 per share in the first quarter of 2013.

Somewhere between 6000 and 8000 jobs are at risk with many of the letters sent out yesterday. It’s small by percentage, though, with 432,246 in their workforce in 2012.

“Change is constant in the technology industry and transformation is an essential feature of our business model,” IBM said yesterday in a statement. “Consequently, some level of workforce remix is a constant requirement for our business. Given the competitive nature of our industry, we do not publicly discuss the details of staffing plans.”

According to Bloomberg:

IBM also has been cutting hours of its contract employees. CDI Corp. (CDI), a Philadelphia-based provider of staffing and outsourcing services, told its staff working for IBM to limit their hours in May, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg. IBM at the time said that the company relies on contractors to manage labor costs on information-technology projects for clients.

Comparing the coveted internships of Google and Facebook

The Google Internship

In a world where people are often having trouble getting full-time jobs, there are a few internships in the tech world that are more coveted than even a full-time job. At Facebook and Google, the competition to get on with a paid internship is intense.

Take a look at the different perks of being an intern for these companies. They make full time jobs in other industries look weak. It was enough to spark a movie.

This infographic by InternetServiceProviders.com breaks down the differences between being an intern for the information company and the connection company.

Google vs Facebook Internships Infographic

 

First Tumblr executive leaves after Yahoo buyout

Jacob Bijani

It took longer than most thought and may be a lighter hit than expected, but the exodus of a Yahoo-owned Tumblr has begun with the resignation of Creative Director Jacob Bijani.

He was the fifth employee of the startup five years ago and the first designer to join the team. In a blog post, he did not mention Yahoo at all, nor did he discuss his relationship with any other executives.

Today was my last day at Tumblr.

Five years ago I joined a team of four as Tumblr’s first designer, creative director, and product engineer. That team has since grown to 182 of the most wonderful and talented people around.

I’m so proud of what we’ve all created together, and it’s been a privilege to contribute to something beloved by so many. I can’t wait to see what’s next for the product; I’m sure it will be nothing short of incredible.

There’s still a lot more I want to accomplish, and I’m really excited about this next chapter. For now, I’m going to take some time off to digest the last few years. I have about a dozen different projects planned, so expect more from me soon!

Despite not mentioning the new parent company, the timing couldn’t be random. Is he expecting a raw deal in the way his position is going to fit in with the company? Is it just a “take the money and run” play? We’ll see what new projects he has up his sleeve once the dust settles.

Marissa Mayer’s first big mistake at Yahoo is a ludicrous one for a tech company

Marissa Mayer

There were many things broken at Yahoo when Marissa Mayer first took over as CEO. She has moved the company forward, consolidated vision, and set the company on a better course than its seen in years. We’ve been very positive about her decisions to date.

The most recent one is idiotic. It’s the type of move that offers little potential benefit while risking a potential backwards step in the progress that has been made so far.

The idea of “Physically Together” is this: an office environment is the best place for every single employee at Yahoo. As of June, all of the hundreds of remote employees will be forced to choose between working from the office or resigning. Those who have partial exceptions that allow them to occasionally work from home will no longer have that option. Working from home while “waiting for the cable guy” will require good judgment and permission. In other words, even that is frowned upon.

In a world where more companies are seeing tremendous results by allowing certain roles and groups of employees to stay at home, this type of backwards thinking is the first sign of trouble for the Mayer era. It doesn’t matter whether you believe that working from home is a good thing or not. The company is in a fragile state. This is the wrong time to make such a move.

It would be different if thousands of employees were currently working from home. That sort of major move would make strategic sense. To focus on so few means that the benefits will be nil and problems will arise as a result. Now is the time for Yahoo to be tackling big problems, not working on minor logistics issues. It should have been pushed to 2014 or beyond. No need to rock a boat that’s already on choppy waters.

This is, of course, all assuming that you believe in the notion that people can be more productive “working together” in an office environment. In the world of tech, most forward-thinking companies are allowing more of their employees to go home. Yahoo is bucking the trend, damaging the relationship they have with some current employees, and limiting the talent pool for gaining future ones.

It’s a rookie move, one that you wouldn’t expect from a veteran in the world of leading thousands. Yahoo is not Google. It does not possess the same company culture of fostering creativity that is inherent with Googlers. You have to build a work environment that is progressive in order to earn the ability to make a change like this. Yahoo is not ready.

I completely understand the genesis of the move. Those who work better in an office environment are unable to understand that there are some, perhaps a small percentage but present nonetheless, who are much more productive and efficient in the comfort of a home office. Technology has given us the ability to collaborate beautifully  from remote locations. It is easier to hold those who work at home accountable for their work today than ever in the past.

Yahoo apparently believes that a closer employee environment will foster a stronger company culture and it’s a valid argument. It simple wasn’t handled properly. This isn’t the right time to shake things up like this. Make progress and push forward before making changes that are bound to have a negative effect on company morale. Save unpopular changes for when the company can afford it.

 

Clever LinkedIn promotes itself by congratulating others

Look at me

We are vane creatures.

LinkedIn has been on a roll, lately. They seem to have come to grips with their status as a resume- and professional-connection-distributing social network (even though they still look too much like Facebook). They are beating The Street’s profits and revenue expectations and they haven’t had any major scandals lately. 2012 was a good year for them and they’re starting off 2013 with a bang by getting many of its most active members to promote the service by promoting themselves.

In a perfectly designed email, LinkedIn informed their top members last week that they were in the top 10%, 5%, or 1% of the most viewed profiles. Everyone wants to be wanted, and what says “I want you” more than a view of a LinkedIn profile? The “award” email prompted users to Tweet their success. Being in the top ranks of a professional social network is something that can make people smiling with pride and eager to rub it into the faces of their less popular workmates, friends, and family.

It was a marketing ploy and it worked wonderfully.

With over 200 million members, that means that the “awards” were given to over 20 million people. Nothing says “look at us” like giving people an opportunity to say “look at me”.

We could not find statistics on how many people actually Tweeted about it, but it was certainly a high number considering the depth of the recipients and the format of the award. Here is what some of the Tweets from the last hour look like:

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“Look at me” image courtesy of Shutterstock.

If you’re firing 190 employees, make sure they don’t have access to the company Twitter account

HMV Twitter

Firing employees can be hard. There are emotions at play and emotions can lead to bad decisions. They can also lead to funny consequences when the people in charge aren’t cognizant of how the new world of social media works.

Such is the case for embattled British music retailer HMV. The company, already embroiled in a form of bankruptcy protection (see image from their website below) due to the shift towards digital music downloads, fired 190 employees today. At least one of those employees had access to the company’s Twitter account and gave a blow by blow report of the events as they unfolded. The Tweets have been since removed, but screenshots linger:

HMV Tweets

Buzzfeed reports a few more Tweets that occurred after the ones above:

HMV Tweets 2

Once the account was back under current-employee control and the offending Tweets were deleted, here is how the company responded:

HMV Tweets 3

The lesson here is that it doesn’t matter how bad things are in the real world with your business. You’ll only make it worse if you neglect the very basic step of cutting off access to social media to employees before you fire them. They already have enough problems with the company. Don’t let disgruntled ex-employees make it worse.

HMV

 

Seven tips for a meaningful internship

Internship

You did it! You scored that awesome internship. Your future is blossoming before your very eyes. The time to push outside of your academic comfort zone has arrived. Now it’s time to get some real-world work experience. Internships are great for building your resume, but even more importantly; this will help you discover more about yourself. What are you strengths? Your weaknesses? What kind of employee do you want to be? Your boss may control your job, but you control your career.

Make the absolute most of this opportunity by following these ten tips for a meaningful internship experience.

  1. Be enthusiastic. Show up friendly and eager to learn. This should come natural. If it doesn’t, you may be in the wrong place. Find a new internship. The right internship is like the right relationship; it won’t make you someone you’re not. Be yourself.
  2. Explore as many departments as possible. An internship is a time for exploration. Seek out opportunities to rotate through different departments and be exposed to various assignments. You may think you want to be a human resources manager, but then discover that you really get jazzed over marketing projects. Now is the time for you to find these things out. Even if you are assigned to one area, reach out to others. Invite someone from a different department to have lunch with you or volunteer to assist with a company project that includes several departments. The online marketing internship program at fishbat is doing a great job at rotating interns through different departments before assigning a specialty.
  3. Ask questions. Learn as much as you can. Ask questions about the company, the tasks you are performing, and your work assignments. Your work will be better as a result. The feedback you gain will also help you improve your skills. Skills like writing, communication, and document creation are transferable. You will most likely use these in any career you pursue. Start sharpening them now.
  4. Listen. You are asking good questions. Now be sure to follow through and listen. The power of listening cannot be stressed enough. Display your good listening skills and be open to feedback from your peers and supervisors. You will be valued for showing interest and respected for being attentive. Mistakes are a lot less likely when you listen and understand too.
  5. Be a problem solver. Show your boss how you can analyze a situation and offer a valuable solution. You are sure to stand out as a leader. Leaders solve problems, they don’t just perform tasks. Taking opportunities to become a problem solver and be a leader will be great for your current position. It will also help you grow into your next role.
  6. Build relationships. Who you know can really open doors. We’ve all heard the stories about friends getting job opportunities through people they know. These connections can be valuable to building your career. Seek out networking opportunities. LinkedIn is harnessing the power of professional networking via the internet and is growing at a rapid speed. Create your own LinkedIn profile and connect with your coworkers and friends. Is there a professional organization in your field? Join it. Attend local networking events. The more you do it, the easier it will become and the better you will get at connecting. Building relationships is key to career success.
  7. Say “thank you.” Be sure to show your gratitude. Send a thank you note following your interview. Thank your coworker for their help on an assignment. Thank your boss for the amazing internship opportunity. People’s time and knowledge are valuable. Let them know you appreciate them. Show how thoughtful you are. Gratitude has an extra bonus too. It has been linked to boosts in happiness levels.

Were you ever an intern? What other tips do you have for a meaningful internship experience?

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“Internship” image courtesy of Shutterstock.

TIL Twitter has a relatively-small number of employees

Twitter Employees

It only takes 140-characters or less to send a Tweet and it takes under 1,000 employees to operate the company according to research done by social media firm Social Jumpstart. In fact, Disney’s Club Penguin, a social network for kids, has more employees. LinkedIn has nearly 1,800 employees and Facebook has over 3,000.

Comparing the different leaders in social media, it’s easy to see which niches take the most effort. Social news site Reddit, for example, has 11 employees servicing “The Front Page of the Internet”, a site that can send hundreds of thousands of unique visitors in hours to a picture of someone’s cat. All of the interest in Pinterest has equated to needing 37 employees, while social discovery site Tagged needs 150 employees and is growing.

This infographic takes a look at the leaders in each niche, including revenue, usage, employees, and the other players chasing them. Conspicuously listed below Facebook is Google+. Are they really a competitor again?

Social Media Leaders

Microsoft employees like Capri Sun, Google employees like bacon

Capri Sun

They say you can tell a lot about a company by the type of people that work for it. Are they young or old? Conservative or liberal? Creative or analytical? These and other data points about employees can help to create a profile of a company, which is exactly what Kiss Metrics did with Google and Microsoft.

By examining some of the habits, preferences, and demographics between the two competitive companies, a clearer comparison profile can be established. We learned that Google employees are less likely to be married or have children while Microsoft employees were less likely to buy Doritos or make less than $100k a year.

This infographic comes to us via Indianapolis Toyota and highlights the differences between the employees at each company.

Google Employees vs Microsoft Employees
From: Andy Mohr Via: Kiss Metrics

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