I heard an interesting word lately with regard to IBM and downsizing. The term is fungible. Per the LinkedIn post an IBM fungible is "someone on their bench who had similar qualities to other employees."
I guess that's an interesting way to put it. It does describe it pretty accurately. Someone who, if they suddenly vanished, either wouldn't be missed or could be replaced with an equivalent "off the street" very quickly with no meaningful loss in output.
the fungibles are fine. they get things done. it's important to keep in mind their billable hours generate the exact same revenue and profit as the key non-fungible people.
so who are the fungibles? maybe it's another way of stating the 80/20 rule. 20 percent are the key contributors who the firm is keen to keep on board and keep happy. the other 80 percent are fungible, can be freely interchanged with no difference. they can be laid off and there are essentially an unlimited number of replacements who can be instantly activated if needed. or to use my earlier 4 in 17 observation, the fungibles are the rest, the 13 in 17.
of course there's no plan to let 80 percent go. that would be crazy. however IBM believe some clump of the 80 can be safely let go in a layoff and things will just continue pretty much as they were and previous levels will quickly be reached again. they are probably right.
