IBM orders US sales to locate near customers or offices

Exclusive IBM, which employees wryly or ruefully say stands for I've Been Moved, is once again moving its employees. On Tuesday, Big Blue shared new rules on where it expects its US sales staff to work: At least three days a week at a client, a flagship office, or a sales hub. And the mainframe giant last week told all US Cloud employees, sales or otherwise, to return to the office at least three days per week at designated "strategic" locations.

Several current and former IBM employees who have spoken to The Register about IBM's work directives argue that these policies represent stealth layoffs because older (and presumably more highly compensated) employees tend to be less willing to uproot their lives, and families where applicable, than the "early professional hires" IBM has been courting at some legal risk . In a staff memo seen by The Register , Adam Lawrence, general manager for IBM Americas, billed the return-to-office for most stateside sales personnel as a "return to client initiative." Citing how "remarkable it is when our teams work side by side" at IBM's swanky Manhattan flagship office, unveiled in September 2024, Lawrence added IBM is investing in an Austin, Texas, office to be occupied in 2026.



Whether US sales staff end up working in NYC, Austin, or some other authorized location, Lawrence told them to brace for – deep breath – IBM's "new model" of "effective talent acquisition, deployment, and career progression." We're told that model is "centered on client proximity for those dedicated to specific clients, and anchored on core IBM locations for those dedicated to territories or those in above-market leadership roles." The program requires most IBM US sales staff "to work at least three days a week from the client location where their assigned territory decision-makers work, a flagship office, or a sales hub.

" Those residing more than 50 miles from their assigned location will be offered relocation benefits to move. Sales hubs are an option only for those with more than one dedicated account. IBM presently has five flagship offices for this purpose, one of each in: New York, Austin, Raleigh, Washington DC, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

It also has eight sales hubs: Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and Seattle, Washington. Additional sales hubs may be added later. Lawrence said Dallas-based workers involved with the Digital Sales center at that location will be moved to Austin in 2026.

The "return to client initiative" applies to sales people associated with US Enterprise, Strategic, and Horizon clients' sites. Those serving US National market territories, Canada, Latin America, US Federal markets, Technology Expert Labs Delivery, Web Methods, and Software Migration Project Office sellers are exempt. By early May, managers are expected to discuss arrangements with team members; team member colocation decisions are due by early June.

As we reported in February, IBM in 2024 began rolling out a co-location/return to office plan that started with managers and has now reached the corporation's broader workforce. Co-location expands on return to office directives by insisting that teams operate out of the same location – it's not enough to work out of any IBM office – and by requiring some workers who have never worked from an office to begin doing so. IBM's office policy change reached US Cloud employees in an April 10 memo from Alan Peacock, general manager of IBM Cloud.

Peacock set a July 1, 2025, deadline for US Cloud employees to work from an office at least three days per week, with relocating workers given until October 1, 2025. The employee shuffling has been accompanied by rolling layoffs in the US, but hiring in India – there are at least 10x as many open IBM jobs in India as there are in any other IBM location, according to the corporation's career listings . And earlier this week, IBM said it "is setting up a new software lab in Lucknow," India.

This push to hire ever more in India is perhaps what IBM chief human resources officer Nickle LaMoreaux meant in a de-DEI memo earlier this month that equated inclusion with talent acquisition while deemphasizing diversity and equity, the two other elements of DEI. Citing differing opinions about DEI programs and the need to be compliant "with all applicable laws, executive orders and government policies – even as they shift," LaMoreaux insisted that IBM's broad commitment to inclusion – which dates back to 1954 when chairman Thomas Watson Jr penned IBM Policy Letter #4 – has not changed. But, she added, "practices are ever evolving" – as if efforts to hire underrepresented groups wax and wane like phases of the moon, outside of corporate control, rather than being deliberate executive-driven directives.

The opinion shaping IBM's realignment appears to be that of President Trump, who on January 20, announced an executive order titled: "Ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing." The order seeks to remove DEI considerations from the federal government, though it's not a done deal. Earlier this week, a federal judge blocked the US Department of Labor from requiring that government contractors – like IBM – certify that they don't operate any DEI programs.

Whatever the outcome of that legal battle, the evolution described by LaMoreaux has already brought change. "As a result, we have adjusted some of our programs and our communications over the past few months," explained LaMoreaux. "For example, aspirational diversity goals are no longer part of the executive incentive program, which is instead focused on talent and innovation measures.

You may also notice changes to our website designed to attract the most qualified talent pool, and to eliminate outdated content and terminology." These website changes can be seen, for example, in the disappearance of a March 25, 2019 blog post that at least until November 4, 2024 – one day before the US Presidential election – appeared at this URL . The post began, "IBM has a continued commitment to diversity and inclusion.

A decade before the Civil Rights Act, IBM’s chairman wrote Policy Letter #4 – history’s first corporate mandate on equal employment, for everyone." IBM did not respond to a request for comment. ®.