1/ Older American workers laid-off from their jobs at IBM suspected they were targeted by age.
We’ve spent the last 10 months investigating.
They were right. propub.li/2HUofKq
We’ve spent the last 10 months investigating.
They were right. propub.li/2HUofKq
2/ IBM targeted people for layoffs and firings with techniques that tilted against older workers, even when the company rated them as high performers. 
3/ In some instances, the money IBM saved has gone toward hiring young replacements to, in the words of one confidential planning document, “correct seniority mix.”
And the company has been actively recruiting “early professional hires.”
And the company has been actively recruiting “early professional hires.”
4/ IBM also denied older workers information the law says they need in order to decide whether they’ve been victims of age bias.
5/ And the company required them to sign away the right to go to court or join with others to seek redress. propub.li/2HULHXL
6/ IBM gave some workers a no-win choice: retire now, or be laid off. Some workers were laid off and then they received a letter “congratulating them on their retirement” anyway.
By classifying them as retirements, IBM avoided laws that require disclosure of layoffs.
By classifying them as retirements, IBM avoided laws that require disclosure of layoffs.
7/ IBM told employees targeted for layoff to apply for other IBM positions, while quietly advising managers not to hire them and requiring many of the workers to train their replacements.
8/ IBM told some some older employees being laid off that their skills were out of date, but then brought them back as contract workers, often for the same work at lower pay and fewer benefits.
9/ IBM declined requests for the numbers or age breakdown of its job cuts. ProPublica provided the company with a 10-page summary of its findings and the evidence on which they were based.
10/ With nearly 400,000 people worldwide, and tens of thousands still in the U.S., IBM remains a corporate giant. How it handles the shift from its veteran baby-boom workforce to younger generations will likely influence what other employers do.
11/ And the way IBM treats its experienced workers will eventually affect younger employees as they get older, too.
12/ Our reporting is based on internal company documents, legal filings and public records, as well as information provided via interviews and questionnaires filled out by more than 1,000 former IBM employees propub.li/2HVN3li
13/13 So: if you’ve got a story about age discrimination, we’d like to hear it. propub.li/2GfVQkP
And if you’ve left IBM in recent years? We’d like to hear why: propub.li/2Gh0uPA
And if you’ve left IBM in recent years? We’d like to hear why: propub.li/2Gh0uPA
