Kyndryl takes employees' pulse while cutting off circulation for some

Summary

On-Prem Kyndryl takes employees' pulse while cutting off circulation for some Redundancy notices and sentiment survey land in inboxes on same day in what tech services biz calls 'commitment to listen' Timing is everything. On the same day last week that Kyndryl told staff they were at risk of redundancy, a pulse survey landed on the desks of the entire workforce. The short questionnaire is used by organizations to measure sentiment toward the business, typically comprising one to 20 questions and sent weekly, monthly, or quarterly. It's a process that is commonplace across the world of work. Except on Wednesday, May 20, it happened to coincide with Kyndryl telling certain employees that their roles may get chopped. A source told us voluntary redundancy was offered in the first instance, including four months' salary. "With the hundreds that are on TUPE terms, I can't see a huge uptake but it may persuade some of the newer ones," claimed an insider. "As a (slightly) amusing aside and to show how joined up we are, the pulse survey went out on Wednesday afternoon just after most of the company had been told they were at risk." Kyndryl told us last week it is trying to "address labor costs" in some countries, including the UK. This followed financial results for the year ended March 31 when revenue grew $63 million to $15.057 billion and net profit shrank 21 percent to $198 million. Charges for severance are forecast at $200 million. A spokesperson at Kyndryl – the infrastructure tech services division that was spun out of IBM in 2021 – sent a statement to The Register on the distribution of the pulse survey. "Since becoming an independent company, we've invited Kyndryls globally to share input in a survey about our culture and workplace twice per year. This is part of our commitment to listen and take action based on employee feedback." At the end of last week, the tech biz held a town hall meeting with workers, according to a source, which we're told lasted about four...