Arvind Krishna

In December 2023, James O'Keefe released a leaked recording of IBM CEO Arvind Krishna promising to fire, demote, or deny bonuses to executives who fail to meet racial and gender hiring quotas. Krishna stated 'Asians are not an underrepresented minority in tech in America' and 'for blacks we should try to get towards 13 percent.' Red Hat chairman Paul Cormier admitted Red Hat terminated employees who refused to engage in racial discrimination. Elon Musk called it 'obviously illegal.' America First Legal filed a federal civil rights complaint. Krishna defended the practice, saying 5% of bonuses are tied to diversity while 95% is performance-based.

In May 2023, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg that IBM was pressing pause on hiring for back office roles that could be performed by AI and automation, estimating the number at close to 8,000 positions. Krishna later clarified the statements were not suggestive of immediate layoffs but a natural transition over several years. The announcement sparked concerns about AI-driven job displacement.