Aecom to outsource entire IT estate to IBM

Thousands of IT redundancies possible as world's largest engineering firm scraps its entire IT department, with many employees facing an uncertain future

Engineering firm Aecom has decided to outsource its entire global IT operations to IBM, meaning hundreds if not thousands of IT jobs will disappear at the firm.

Whilst no public announcement has yet been made by either organisation, Computing understands that Aecom staff received letters in mid-January informing that of the decision, but none have yet been made aware of what will happen to their roles.

A post on layoff.com, a site which encourages employees to post about job losses, suggests that morale amongst technology staff at the firm has plumetted, with one user 'unwanterd employee', predicting that any offered of alternative roles at the firm will not be attractive.

"They Outsourced the IT Department to IBM for 4 months and then what? We get an offer of a job 100 miles away and if we don't accept we are Terminated without any sevrans [sic] pay for years of service. That sounds like how Management at AECOM works! Good Luck to ALL of Us!"

Another user, claiming to be Tom Peck, Aecom's SVP, CIO, and Head, Global Procurement, tried to calm the situation, suggesting that decisions on job losses or moves have yet to be made.

"It's too early for anyone to know what ratio of people IBM will allow to work remotely or in existing AECOM offices. We are only two weeks into the announcement, but this post acts as if it's a 100% certainty across the board."

User 'shafted123' complained that IT staff only learnt about the move at the same time as the rest of the company.

"So you were right. AECOM IT is being outsourced to IBM. 950 dedicated staff who have worked their butts off for this terrible company are now at risk. Maybe 30-40% will get jobs with AECOM or IBM, if they are unlucky enough to have to take them!

"It was announced to the whole company by email before anyone in IT had been informed, that's just charming!

"Worked for this horrible company for a long time in its various guises, can't wait to take the payoff and escape!!!"

User 'onewhoknows' pinned the blame squarely on Peck himself.

"Ibm is forcing relocation and is expected to layoff people not retain then. AECOM cio Tom Peck is to blame for this. Not Vance or anyone else. He drove IT into the ground. And misused millions of dollars."

Whilst others took to Twitter with some appealing to new US President Donald Trump for intervention.

Another predicted extensive job losses.

Have you been affected by the news? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact Stuart Sumner at: [email protected]