761
© 2022 Fairygodboss. All rights reserved.
IBM and Urgent Need To Re-Skill Workers
This was a great Podcast interview. I believe that now more than ever, this is extremely relevant. Personally, after my contract ended in March, I applied at 20 IBM positions and have met some incredible people. Without prior education, skills, an IBM apprenticeship OR the opportunity to shadow someone is really necessary if you want to break into the IT Tech world.
"Retraining workers for jobs in the digital economy has been a focus of IBM’s Ginni Rometty for a long time. Now, with coronavirus driving unemployment sky high, the need for reskilling is even more urgent."
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ibms-ginni-rometty-on-the-urgent-need-to-reskill-workers/id1501891506?i=1000471421406
Anonymous
04/19/20 at 2:12PM UTC
It’s interesting what five years does! Five years ago I was personally part of the first (of 4 just in 2015) large reductions in force (RIF), aka. lay-offs, driven by Ginny during her first year as CEO of IBM. I remember joining her first Townhall session in January 2015 and being excited about our new female leader, who just shattered the ‘ceiling’ (woot)! She was describing all of the growth of IBM on the horizon & how healthcare was the key focus (fab!) I wasn’t overly concerned when she specifically brought up the value of associates with degrees (even though I didn’t have one, I was already employed). Overall, it was an exciting call...since I was on the healthcare team, delivering healthcare projects with IBM for 7 years, and had over 15 years of healthcare experience. Then 1 week later I received the news - 30d notice. They were ‘restructuring’ my healthcare team (vertical) & associates that had a degree were being repurposed to Watson & the others were let go. Had I not been extremely marketable and had I not already had a diverse skillset I would have been in serious trouble. Fast forward - I’m stronger than ever, haven’t had one day of unemployment, and have doubled my income through it all (& I’m no longer a road warrior/killing myself, as I was with IBM).
I think it’s promising to see that Ginny has expanded her mindset (or at least marketing this message). As it is extremely wise to invest in growing associates, it’s more fruitful for everyone (associate / leadership / employer / economy)...removing the mindset that resources are disposable and only college grads fresh out of college are the only resources that can be trained is insane - anyone who wants to learn & grow can be re-skilled (at any age). We are in a whole new world, hopefully citizens that were impacted recently by under employment or complete unemployment are leveraging this opportunity to grow their skills. We have a chance to be a stronger nation to positively evolve and grow. Overall, it’s an individual/personal responsibility - not government & not even corporations - but an individual responsibility. In this day and age there are an abundance of free training on the internet in an extremely large array of topics.
Keep optimistic, keep a positive mindset & focus on personal growth!
Amaryllis aka The Latin Phoenix On a life journey of growth
761
04/20/20 at 1:14PM UTC
Good morning Anonymous, Thank you for sharing your story, I really appreciated your honesty and also the resilience you showed! I am of firm belief that it is an individuals responsibility to do the ground work and rely on their own self-work. I'd also like to add that there are also caveats of getting assistance for being re-skilled by a corporation/government entity. The road has to be traveled by both and at some point a bridge built to give hope to people that for some reason or other, cannot access the same opportunities. For example, I know of individuals that have taken 5+ years to earn a degree, due to family + work balance. The goal of higher learning was achieved....however what was relevant 5 years ago, is no longer the case today.
I am a proponent of free learning, education, etc., however as we all know, unless the person has years of experience in a specific field, they will not get the same opportunities of someone that does. When corporations can see beyond the years of experience and take a chance on an early professional by having them re-skilled, it brings a positive outcome. :)
Focused200094
22
04/19/20 at 3:44PM UTC
Where? Where is this abundance of free training on the internet ,, other maybe learning spanish?
Kristin GreeneFuture of Higher Education & Workplace Learning
236
04/17/20 at 12:21AM UTC
IBM also has digital badges so you can gain a skill and also a credential that is portable to universities or to jobs. It's really cool.
Amaryllis aka The Latin Phoenix On a life journey of growth
761
04/17/20 at 1:29PM UTC
ABSOLUTELY Klg05!!! I have taken some really great professional development courses that led to Badges and Certificates. Additionally, these can sync right up to LinkedIn and other sites! Thank you for your great suggestions!
© 2022 Fairygodboss. All rights reserved.