Employees at IBM‘s (NYSE:IBM) North American Global Technology Services unit learned on Monday that 2012 would not be a good year to bet on getting a raise.
The company warned them in an email that there would be no unit-wide salary increases for the rest of this year, Business Insider reported.
Saying that it was essential for its “services business to provide value-added services to clients at competitive price points” the company said any salary bumps would be targeted at “skill groups or focus areas as identified by each GTS line of business, based on local market needs.”
Word of the de facto salary freeze prompted speculation that salary reductions might also be under consideration.
IBM confirmed that “no executives will be eligible for salary increases,” but reiterated that certain employees with certain skills might still see some extra compensation.
Unnamed former IBM employees told Business Insider that there hadn’t been company-wide pay increase in at least two years and none seemed forthcoming any time soon. A unnamed current employee described the email as “another slap in the face.”
The one-time computer giant has trimmed about 1,800 employees from its North American operations this year.
Shares of IBM slid fractionally in early Wednesday trading.
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