If I worked for EDS I'd start getting worried. Capgemini offered two rounds of voluntary redundancy before the current compulsory one (covering 20% of the workforce) got started.

will breathe a huge sigh of relief, knowing that only the Military of Defence are affected.

:)

...and not one they had the decency to offer me when they recruited me into a job that didn't exist. More fools them, though, paying me for a year to do sweet bugger all (including time off for depression induced by their incompetency).

If I worked for EDS I'd be too busy wondering why I was still there to worry :p

If you are worth your salt, redundancy is a welcome change and a bit of cash on the side. I'll take it anyday.

Remember folks, it is career for life, not job for life any longer (in IT sector at least).

What they actually want to do is lose a few "underperforming" people. UK law does not let you pick and choose which positions to make redundant on the basis of individual performance, so, by soliciting volunteers, they will have a list of people that they can accept the request from. Not the same thing in law.

The remainder of course, can then be dinged for "lack of commitment" in their next review.

EDS are doing it. It'll take years, if they ever finish ...

Even the most cursory glance at EDS's past history of government IT disasters should indicate that every single one of them merits sacking. If not hanging, drawing and quartering too....

Totally useless and not fit for purpose. Both organisations produce worthless piles of junk that are hundreds of millions over budget and nothing like the original brief.

Essential features tha won't work, no matter how much tweaking they try.

But as preferred Government bidders,they keep getting the CON tracts.

The sooner EDS and Capita are consigned to the dustbin of history, the better.

Unfortunately, it's management that make all the decisions, and as an ex employee, all I can say is EDS management are laughable.

It never seemed to matter whether you told them that their idea sucked nads and wouldn't work, they made you do it anyway, or found somebody else to do it.

Thank christ I resigned, although if I'd waited a year, I might be up for this round of redundancy as I know they're offering it in the area where I did work. Still, it was worth it just to quit and get away from the useless bastards that are EDS. :)

@AC "... look at "individual cases on their merit" ... " et al ... so we're all useless? Well, if you think YOU can do any better with a government contract then come and have a go. I've been in two different government suppliers to date, and both were exercises in frustration and futility - the fault lying fairly and squarely with HMG civil servants (at the behest of their political masters?) not being able to make their froggin' minds up anytime soon. Before you accuse me of being an EDS fanboi have a think - is there more than a handful of HMG projects that HAVE come in to time and budget? In which case what's the common factor - not EDS!? ;-)

@AC "re: ... look at "individual cases on their merit" ..." - couldn't agree more mate, it's not EDS that sucks, it's the upper levels of management. We got the mandatory "emergency" briefing about this when the news came out last week, and the useless t***ers (in the US?) didn't bother to supply much in the way of detail to our manager who, as a result, didn't have a heck of a lot to say! Being a good manager, at least he busted a gut to get us the answers we need after the meeting. Plano appear to be committed (and bl**dy well should be imho) to moving anything not bolted down out of Germany, UK etc to India et al. In which case, I'm praying I'm still here when they have to move it all back again when the cost of living in India etc rises to the point where the orginal places are cheaper! On that day I'm going to wet myself with laughter....! Seriously though - as a tax payer - I'd rather pay a little more tax to ensure that the maximum of HMG work is retained in this country. I'm not comfortable with *any* of my data leaving the verdant shores of these sceptered isles...

The upside is at least the current management team are less ineffective than those we had previously (Dick Brown etc), DB especially was a major league liability (and a**h*le to boot).

Now you must excuse me, I've got to get back to the project I'm doing here - for a non-HMG customer - which'll be delivered ahead of time and under budget.

Happy-at-EDS (but for how much longer?).

Not all EDS are useless, but I am afraid that their management is just worse than stupid. I have the misoftune to be contracted to EDS as a SME on a govenrment project, and I am afraid you cannot put all their problems down to the difficulty of working with HMG. We had have had 3 different project managers in ONE WEEK, on a project that is going critical. Not the PM's fault, not HMG just pure stupidity and incompetance on EDS side.

Pity is though that as with al voluntary redundancy pakages, the useless management will stay on, any competant worker will use it to fund a jump ship.

... you are more informative than all of my EDS management chain put together.

I'd heard rumours of VR but there has been no official announcement - at least none that has reached anybody I know.

Senior management have their heads up their backsides, the company can't win non-government work in any reasonable quantity in the UK. The company reputation is trash, because of the money-comes-first style of management. 85% of EDS' UK business is Government or MOD (according to a recent Private Eye) - and this despite losing HMRC and Ministry of Justice in the last few years. If the company ever turns the situation around (which I doubt) it will find that many of its best people have moved on...

UK employers aren't allowed to fire incompetent staff?

<Shakes head and gets coat...>

I worked in the Civil Service for 10 ten years, before moving to the private sector when HMG sold off the IT department to EDS. Now EDS may not be the best employer, but they are a damn site better than HMG. If they made 50% of the Civil Servants redundant tomorrow, no one in the country would notice the difference. I have since left EDS to work in Accenture and CSC. Accenture are in a different league to EDS and CSC who are probably both on a par, trying to deliver what HMG wants for the lowest costs. Having ended up twice being TUPE'd to EDS and CSC, I can honestly say that EDS are the better employer, so think yourselves lucky.

As a soon to be ex EDS employee, I have to congratulate them on the speed and efficieny with which these redundancies were made. From announcement to severence took less than two weeks, how many of you working outside the Texan Behemoth can claim such managerial competancy.

I have to admit to being a little nettled by some of the comments made in this thread. We all know that requirements and realisations where the customer is concerned rarely meet, is this the fault of the lowly engineer or the greed fueled duplicity of the bonus chasing 'Bid Teams'?

This is in no way a defence of EDS or an attempt to justify it's failings, but a few lines in praise of the stoicism, resolve and resourcefulness of it's non-commisioned staff in their futile attempt to show those in command the difference between their arse and their elbow.

EDS VR -seems now that the originally targetted areas have been given verbal decisions of acceptance and they are due to complete work by end of the month, but many others applied for VR too, some ex civvies with alot to gain from the exercise. Originally decisions and details of offers were due out yesterday, but to date no one has heard a thing!!! Not even an update !!!!The PCS union is appalled about how their members are being held waiting on the matter and I have also heard that some, already accepted folk have been told now that they cannot leave until the "official "paperwork is received with the rubber stamp of EDS approval on it! So they have made arrangements in good faith as sugested by the exit proces from senior management, but have to scrap that and put their lives on hold for EDS to make their mind up! For those with EDS experience, it will come as no surprise at all, for those without the experience.....consider yourself lucky!