IBM's $25-mn fund to train staff

International Business Machines has created a $25 million fund to train its employees and business partners as part of the company's effort to make US technology industry more competitive globally, a media report said on Tuesday.

The fund, called the Human Capital Alliance, aims to help IBM employees who seek more training out of concern that they could lose their jobs to technical experts overseas, CNET online service specialising in technology news reported.

It quoted IMB CEO Samuel Palmisano as saying that a global marketplace for technology skills, such as software programming, is good for the economy overall.

But he said that US technology professionals need more help in gaining the latest skills to compete for jobs.

"It is not appropriate for the American ethos to wish ill will on countries simply because they are trying to improve the standards of living of their people," Palmisano said. "At the same time, we can work together to re-skill people to move to (new technology) areas."

IBM will make the retraining money available to business partners as well. The company said it will try to place IBM employees who have been laid off with partners once they have been retrained.

Palmisano said that the fund will be an alternative to government programmes, which are not effective.

"There are lots of government programmes, but they train people for jobs that don't exist--in the past. This (fund) is for future jobs," he was quoted by CNET as saying.