In the most explicit statement yet that the policy of full employment at IBM Corp is on its last legs, in the company’s annual report, due to be mailed to shareholders next week, the company says that employment is intrinsically connected to individual performance and business success, and that if further significant reductions are required, we will reassess full employment and do what is best for IBM. The PS/2 business fell 11.8% to $8,505m; disks died, with storage products down 20% to $7,284m. And, making it clear that John Akers is beginning to feel embarrassed by all the negative comment about his salary and benefits in the present state of the company, he notes that as a result of the rotten performance of the company, he expects the performance-related element of his pay to fall such that his overall package declines by 40%.
