NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Tech giant IBM has issued a directive requiring its United States sales staff to work at least three days a week from client sites, flagship offices, or designated sales hubs.
The “return to client initiative” comes just days after a similar return-to-office (RTO) order was handed to all U.S. cloud employees, who must comply by July 1, 2025, or relocate by October 1 if necessary.
Adam Lawrence, IBM’s general manager for the Americas, described the move as a way to foster “remarkable” in-person collaboration, citing the company’s new Manhattan flagship office and a forthcoming Austin, Texas, location slated for 2026.
“Our new model is centered on client proximity for those dedicated to specific clients, and anchored on core IBM locations for those dedicated to territories or those in above-market leadership roles,” Lawrence wrote in a staff memo seen by The Register.
Relocation, layoffs, and shifting workforce
The new policy requires most U.S. sales staff to work from the location where their assigned territory’s decision-makers are based, a flagship office, or a sales hub.
Employees living more than 50 miles from their assigned site will be offered relocation benefits. Sales hubs are available only to those with multiple dedicated accounts.
IBM currently operates five flagship offices—in New York, Austin, Raleigh, Washington D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area—and eight sales hubs across major U.S. cities. Dallas-based Digital Sales staff will be moved to Austin in 2026.
The changes come amid ongoing layoffs in the U.S., with IBM reportedly set to cut around 9,000 jobs in 2025, many of which are expected to shift to India.
IBM’s internal job postings show ten times as many openings in India as in the U.S., and the company recently announced a new AI-focused software lab in Lucknow, India.
Some IBM employees view the RTO policy as a form of “stealth layoffs,” arguing that older, more highly compensated staff are less likely to relocate compared to newer hires.
Managers are expected to finalize new work arrangements with their teams by early May, with decisions due by early June.
DEI programs scaled back amid political pressure
Simultaneously, IBM is rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Executive bonuses are no longer tied to diversity hiring targets, and supplier diversity efforts now prioritize small and veteran-owned businesses over race and gender considerations.
Chief Human Resources Officer Nickle LaMoreaux emphasized that while IBM’s commitment to inclusion remains, “practices are ever evolving,” citing compliance with shifting laws and executive orders.