You would feel you have been taken for a fool. IBM explanation Jeff Couture, spokesman for IBM in Essex Junction, said the cash balance pension plan was adopted in response to the changes in the workforce. The new plan builds value faster than a traditional pension, and that value can be taken from job to job. For much of IBM's history 30-year careers were common, Couture said. Today, it's true for a number of employees, but it's no longer the norm.
Employees do change jobs more than in the past.
Companywide, about 40 per cent of workers have been with IBM six years or less, and 20 percent have been there 25 or more years, he said. The remaining 40 percent would be most affected by the pension changes, he said. It depends on your age, your service, when you decide to leave the company, your future plans, whether you consider being able to take a lump sum or an annuity a benefit. Douglas St. Amour, a techni-cian who has been with the company for 19 years, was upset that employees weren't given a choice of plans. IBM has lost sight of the fact its most important asset is its employees.