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Looking for opportunity at IBM? Big Blue is hiring – in India

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Note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of Local Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – As 2010 begins, a “scared IBMer” sent an e-mail to The Skinny warning that Big Blue is planning further reductions in its U.S.-based work force.

Take heart, “scaredIBMer.” Jobs are available – in India.

As an IBM (NYSE: IBM) executive testified to Congress last November, the company slashed another 10,000 people from its U.S. work force, down to 105,000. And that was two months before the year ended. Now, as another quarter nears its end and the economy continues to struggle, some Big Blue workers are concerned their jobs may be outsourced overseas as the company cuts costs by hiring employees beyond our shores. (IBM still has about 10,000 employees in the Triangle.)

For the record, as tracked by Alliance@IBM, the organization seeking to represent IBM workers, IBM has cut its U.S. payroll to 105,000 as of Nov. 1, from 133,789 in 2005.

Here are the numbers:

• 11/1/2009: 105,000
• 2008: 115,000
• 2007: 121,000
• 2006: 127,000
• 2005: 133,789

Where IBM is hiring in 2009:

• Asia/Pacific: 13,376
• CEEMEA: 3,988
• Europe: 2,923
• India: 18,873
• Japan: 868
• Latin America: 7,112
• USA: 3,514
• Canada: 820

The numbers continue to change.

On Sunday, for example, The Economic Times of India reported that IBM plans to add 5,000 employees in India as it looks to open more “business process outsourcing” operations, or BPO centers.

Isn't it ironic that Big Blue plans to hire more people to support businesses that are cutting costs by sending operations overseas while at the same time IBM cuts jobs in the U.S.?

"We plan to focus more in the services sector by opening more BPO centers in India. We would recruit at least 5,000 people to support this expansion," Selby Mascarenhas told the Indian newspaper. He was identified as “IBM Poland's senior advisory consultant.”

IBM already has BPO centers in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon and Kolkata, the newspaper added.

"The hiring process has already started, but on a slow note,” Mascarenhas added. “Last year, we didn't recruit or lay off anybody. In certain cases, some probationers were not confirmed.”

So, how did IBM’s India group avoid layoffs while Big Blue slashed nearly 10 percent of its U.S. work force?

"There was no need to lay off Indian workers since Indian workers are cost effective compared to their counterparts abroad," Mascarenhas told The Economic Times.

IBM does continue to hire some new employees in the U.S. For example, it is adding 500 jobs in Colorado and several hundred jobs in Iowa. But these are not the high-end, high-paying positions that have over the years made Big Blue such an appealing place to work for many of America’s best and brightest.

A lot of these new positions are call center jobs. Not to demean the people who hold these kind of positions, but they also don’t pay $100,000 a year.

IBM recently launched new centers in New York City and Washington, D.C., that will help offset some of the high-end job losses.

Still, the trend in U.S. employment numbers is clear at IBM – they are going down.

The Skinny

WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…