IT Reshoring News

November 09, 2017

IBM Has More Employees in India than the U.S.

Another offshoring milestone has hit. IBM, the first American technology giant, now has more of its employees homed in India than in the U.S. No one should consider it an American company anymore.

IBM has hit another milestone…but it’s not one that helps its country of origin.

IBM Now Has More Employees in India than in America - ZDNet

The tech giant has 130,000 employees in India. That’s out of 380,000 total worldwide. In the U.S.? They employ “well under 100,000” (IBM will not give exact numbers).

Most of the Indian IBM workers provide technical support, software development, and cloud server monitoring. All services which require consistent quality and high security.

Why Does IBM Prefer India to the U.S.?

We already know why IBM keeps more employees overseas.  Cost.

The article mentions Glassdoor data showing that Indian IBM workers are paid 20-50% of American salaries. They’re saving plenty by offshoring to India.  It has nothing to do with “not finding enough qualified workers.”  It has everything to do with cost.

How well is that working for them?

IBM’s Current State: A Downward Slope

IBM ranks as one of the world’s most influential brands. Fortune ranked it #13 in The Most Valuable Brands of 2017. But that’s not helping their revenue stream.

IBM made $19 billion in revenue last quarter. While impressive, it’s also part of a long slide in their revenue goals. Q3 2017 represented the 22nd straight quarter of IBM revenues declining. In addition, Warren Buffett dumped a bunch of IBM stock back in May, citing doubts about its future.

Watson and their cloud offerings should keep them afloat for a while. So long as their systems maintenance stays top-notch, that is.

IBM is a Global Company Now, Not an American One

At this point, it’s safe to say IBM no longer has American interests at heart. It’s based here. It started here. But given its global stance, it’s clear that IBM only looks out for one thing:  IBM.

Let’s all factor that into our purchasing decisions, shall we?

 

What do you think about IBM’s Indian presence? Send your thoughts to reshoreyourit@planetmagpie.com