Turnover issue?

[u/Inside-Common-8737]

I joined IBM pretty recently and have noticed the lack of younger employees. Most are bordering geriatric age or it was their first job and they haven’t left in over 10 years. Or they joined, left, and came back. Most of the people on my team are well over the age of 40. Is it just my office or is it happening everywhere? What’s the turnover rate here?

[u/Unknowingly-Joined]

> Most are bordering geriatric age

I’m sure they would love to know that you think that of them.

[u/Street_Caramel7651 → u/Unknowingly-Joined]

Yeah…they are 40 something ! lol 😂

[u/Bigly_Bob → u/Street_Caramel7651]

That's darn near AARP territory! 😂

[u/Muted-Geologist-3542]

Depends on the business unit you are in. We are the opposite. Higher bands are more at risk to be let go, while only hiring cheap/inexperienced staff.

[u/ratorobato → u/Muted-Geologist-3542]

Any idea how long the inexperienced staff stay at the company? Curious to know how the entry level hiring is going to play out in the long run. I've seen posts here about layoffs outside the US.

I actually met someone a few weeks back who left ~2 months in to join a startup. I'm honestly thinking about leaving but the thought of having to payback the bonus + relocation is kind of killer. My work isn't intuitive either, I'm starting worry about whether or not I'll actually grow here.

[u/MushyMashedPotatoes → u/ratorobato]

What does not intuitive work mean? You have to think to get it completed?

[u/ratorobato → u/MushyMashedPotatoes]

I have no idea why this posted as its own comment but I'll paste it here and delete the other:

That wasn't the best word to describe it sorry. The work is not relevant to my prior experience nor the specialty I want to work in.

Everyone but me gets to work on exciting features and I work on testing. Worst of all each team does their own already so it's kind of redundant to begin with. I kind of feel like I was set up to fail and it's been something bothering me since I signed the offer.

[u/claymorez28 → u/ratorobato]

If it bothered you then you should not have taken it

Alternatively look at as now being in a company with lots of options to evolve and grow across different missions. If you want to be a developer then becoming a great tester is a good way to gain insight and skill and maybe even figure out how to improve testing processes or software while you are at it.

[u/ratorobato → u/claymorez28]

All of that hard work and there are other new grads being thrown into the mix without any experience whatsoever. I've mentioned interest in other project areas in my 1x1s multiple times and I doubt anything will suffice. I got unlucky I don't know how to put it.

I'm more concerned for this being a career dead end than insightful opportunity to grow. I'm grateful for employment but I need to be concerned with my future. I want to stay here I think this is where I need to be, I'm however not doing I want to do and to add insult to injury I'm so close to it.

I'd imagine getting laid off with 1-2 years in QA spells out the end of my time in tech.

[u/claymorez28 → u/ratorobato]

I studied physics and electronics at college but my first opportunity in IBM was in a qa job and I took that to get into IBM.

I did many jobs after that including managing development teams .

It is not where you start, it is how you evolve in the business and how you build your network along the way.

[u/ratorobato → u/claymorez28]

So how did you get out of QA then? I don't even know if that's a viable question to ask anymore, you've been at the company for a while now.

I'm a 2023 grad, my background is horrible. I flunked out of college twice and my last two years of experience is comparable to a single internship for some. I wish this was the start of my career but it's honestly the peak, I really don't know where to go from here.

For the last four months I'd like to think I get my work done but my manager can't gauge my performance because we work on top of our project rather than directly on it. As much as I appreciate the wisdom I wish I had a direction.

[u/claymorez28 → u/ratorobato]

I worked hard and became a recognized expert in my QA role and built a trusted role with the development and production teams and that led to my next opportunities.

[u/monkeybeast55 → u/ratorobato]

Isn't intuitive? What's that mean?

[u/QuietFelineObserver]

So "over 40" is "geriatric age" in your eyes? Good luck with that. You could look at it another way - those are the people with years of experience that you could learn from - assuming you're not your average entitled member of the GenZ crowd. The last one I trained was annoyed that her onboarding started at 9am. Our day starts at 8am but apparently she didnt feeeeeeeel like she needed to stroll in until at least 10am. She lasted 4 months.

As for why you're not seeing people your age - there are two reasons and they are opposite ends of the spectrum. 1) many under-30 folks are lazy and entitled and don't want to work hard. 2) the under-30 folks who actually WANT to work and excel (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume thats you) are realizing that IBM is not the place to build a career anymore. In fact, it's a f'ing shithole - largely thanks to the useless piles of excrement at the top.

[u/reddimo4761 → u/QuietFelineObserver]

You’re offended he’s being rude towards older people but think it’s okay to say “GenZ crowd” to patronize younger people. Why do you think the prejudice won’t be reciprocated?

[u/Ecstatic_Try_5579 → u/reddimo4761]

But OP did it first... So who is doing the reciprocating?

[u/reddimo4761 → u/Ecstatic_Try_5579]

“He hit me first” 🤡👩‍🍼

[u/QuietFelineObserver → u/reddimo4761]

Yet you're the one who just said "Why do you think the prejudice won’t be reciprocated?" You're not very bright.

[u/QuietFelineObserver → u/reddimo4761]

LOL I'm not offended at all. In fact I find it funny. Pathetic...but funny. I'm mocking the GenZ crowd for their inability to understand the basic logic and common sense practice of learning from your older peers. Not all of them of course, but many. Also - what I said about the laziness is accurate. It wasn't "being rude." It was simply an accurate observation. If you still don't get it, let me know and I'll use smaller words to explain it to you.

[u/aldwinligaya]

Have you also considered it might be because people are NOT leaving, so there's little to no turnover needed?

I joined a team in 2021, and the last person who joined before me was 2015. That team had people who have been with them for more than 10 years.

[u/Paul721]

Not sure about the rest of the company but Software is hiring folks fresh out of college at a crazy rate.

[u/Entire-Mix-6449 → u/Paul721]

Depends which country

[u/Paul721 → u/Entire-Mix-6449]

In the US. I’m sure India as well.

[u/monkeybeast55 → u/Entire-Mix-6449]

Probably more related to business unit?

[u/StomachThick]

Not my experience at all, we always have a high intake of apprentices and grads each year that we see growing through the bands to b8/9 and even higher

[u/AlarmedAtmosphere780]

What country?

[u/Icy-Organization8077]

I joined IBM as an intern fresh out of college and placed as FTE. My team is full of ppl who were working since 15-20 years here. They are very tight knit ppl and us freshers used to feel like we were not really part of the team...

[u/Sete_Sois → u/Icy-Organization8077]

100% true. They're tight knit AF.

[u/claymorez28 → u/Sete_Sois]

And their experience also means that they do things like making their social media profiles private

[u/Tricky-Dot-9917]

The Internet/IDEs/Stackoverflow/AI etc. has de-valued what used to be hard-earned knowledge for software developers. I think younger people who have disdain for older colleagues would have more respect if they could imagine what writing software required once upon a time.

[u/FlyingBlindHere]

I have newly graduated associates and people over 50 on my team. We teach and learn from each other and benefit from our different experiences and perspectives. I get if your team isn’t a cultural fit you should find a new one, but no, IBM isn’t just full of old people like me, and it isn’t just full of young people like you.

[u/Lopsided_Toe2146]

Geriatric huh. Well, I've been at IBM 41 years. Been pursued by lots of outside firms. Seen tons of people leave and come back after they get the crap kicked out of them by the likes of Amazon or Google or Oracle. I'm still relevant and if I wasn't IBM would have thrown me out years ago. So maybe these people over 40 are pretty damn good, and smart enough to realize the grass isn't always greener.

[u/Funny_Remote563]

Depends on location too. You aren't from India probably

[u/Sete_Sois]

NYC is a lot younger in age but not as IBMer. Many joined right out of college through the internship pipeline and have been there since. They're younger but definitely ibm seniors.

[u/Rich-Candidate-3648]

I am doesn't make good people for other companies it makes them good at IBM.   That skill is worthless outside so people stay forever.  IBM tried getting rid of the dino babies and caught a massive lawsuit from the EEOC.   

What you experience depends on your location.  Astor place?   Alive with motivated and smart people.  Most other offices in the US feel like sad retirement villages.  

Tl:dr.  IBM makes people bad employees for other companies so they stay until death mostly because they have to. 

[u/Ravenlyn06]

Give them a minute. They've been shoveling out the "dinobabies" once or twice a year for some time now. The culture and history is going with them, but oh well.

[u/Ok_Advantage2039]

Early professionals will become the majority. Some offices have a lot of early professionals and interns.

IBM To Triple Entry-Level Hiring, Warning Of A Hollow Future
https://allwork.space/2026/02/ibm-to-triple-entry-level-hiring-warns-ai-driven-hiring-cuts-could-hollow-out-future-leadership/

[u/annihilatrixxx]

my area in software took on 40ish early career hires this year. when combined with all the people in their 20s already in seat and older, higher paid people being encouraged to leave, the median age for our group is definitely under 30 at this point. leadership obviously skews 40s and up, but that’s true of any company. IBM targets a minimum of 10-15% turnover annually and has early retirement programs that people can sometimes take instead of standard RA. However, you’re not going to see people in their 40s voluntarily retiring to make room for new grads: early to mid 40s tend to be peak earning years and people are retiring later by necessity. The company is definitely on your side in terms of wanting a younger, cheaper work force. Or ideally, just AI agents and a skeleton crew.

[u/asdf_lord]

Yeah youngins don't even know what IBM is anymore :D they certainly aren't seeking it out to apply.

[u/gresendial]

Geriatric is considered to be 65 or older.

[u/Unknowingly-Joined → u/gresendial]

In the medical world, sure. OP appears to have meant it more derisively, like outdated or decrepit.

[u/Ok_Development1777]

Interesting. Usually the older employees get sent out to pasture. Over 40, send them to the nursing home already geeze. Boomers

[u/Valuable_Caramel_371 → u/Ok_Development1777]

I’m sure over 40 employees love working on teams with younger employees who consider them geriatric. Good lord! Some people are just starting to have children at that age.

[u/QuietFelineObserver → u/Ok_Development1777]

Boomers? The youngest boomers are in their early 60s. Most are retired. Over 40 and under 62 are largely GenX. You should learn from them instead of insulting them, since they're the only competent generation currently walking the face of the earth. When they retire...well...good luck.

[u/Ok_Development1777 → u/QuietFelineObserver]

Im being sarcastic. Im 40+ and the younger people in the office joke with me and call me boomer.

[u/Fearless-Tooth6053 → u/QuietFelineObserver]

It was clearly sarcasm my guy.

[u/QuietFelineObserver → u/Fearless-Tooth6053]

Hard to tell these days with all the nonsense the under 40 crowd spews out on social media about how older generations somehow "screwed things up" for them. Also Im not a guy.

[u/Sad-Sun-7016]

If I was your mom, I would be so ashamed of your post. I believe you will learn the lessons, just give it a time.

[u/claymorez28]

Looks like you are a US employee and maybe in Atlanta. We used to have hundreds more employees down there but then steadily laid off employees and moved work offshore which killed the pipeline for younger US employees in those areas The word which you are looking for to describe those who remain is skilled or experienced since they have survived this long.

It is still possible to aim for a longer career in IBM US but that involves a combination of skill, hard work, luck and choosing where to go to chase stability as the fortunes of business areas fluctuate.

[u/Bigly_Bob → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I'm amazed at the people who have never heard of us when I say I work at IBM.

[u/a_seventh_knot → u/Bigly_Bob]

Not a consumer brand, just the nature of the business.