Zelcastalumni map

People who leave IBM most often go to Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Of them, 15% go somewhere small. The median tenure is 2y 1m

Not IBM's headcount: these are the engineers in the Zelcast network and the profiles run through the Eng Scorer. 1,703 people on a map of 67,181, No. 9 on it by people. Updated September 30, 2026.

People on the map
1,7032.5% of everyone on the map
There now
1368% of the people here
Moved on
1,56792% of the people here
Median tenure
2y 1mmiddle half 11m to 3y 10m

Put IBM side by side with another employer.

Came from, went to

Ribbon width is the number of people who made the move. Most arrive from Microsoft. Most leave for Google (7% of recorded departures).

IBM1,107 in · 1,541 out
3%29Microsoft2%18Google1%14Accenture1%14Amazon1%10Intel1%8Booz Allen1%7Cisco1%7Lockheed Martin1%7MetaGoogle1057%Microsoft785%Amazon745%Meta574%AWS302%Apple211%Capital One151%NVIDIA121%Bloomberg111%
114 of 1,107 recorded arrivals shown, 993 more from 847 other companies403 of 1,541 recorded departures shown, 1,138 more to 832 other companies

After IBM

  • 2%Founded something35
  • 15%Joined a startup218
  • 34%Joined a big company499
  • 48%Elsewhere

Shares of those who moved on, by their next stop.

The IBM mafia

35 of the people who left went straight to a founding role, 2% of those who moved on, half of them within a month of leaving. The bars cover the ’15 to ’26 classes; earlier founders still count in the total.

How long people stay

25%<1y
21%1-2y
30%2-4y
14%4-7y
10%7y+
2y 1m median tenuremiddle half 11m to 3y 10m

1,166 stays with both a start and an end on the record.

Who comes and goes, by year

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
joined left2026 is a partial year

2012 to 2026: 1,438 joined, 1,422 left.

Caliber

79mediantop 10%89
0Eng Scorer caliber, 737 scored99

there now 68 moved on 79. The people who left score higher than the people still there.

Titles held here

  1. Software Engineer260
  2. Software Engineer Intern126
  3. Research Intern90
  4. Software Developer72
  5. Software Development Intern69
  6. Senior Software Engineer57
  7. Staff Software Engineer56
  8. Advisory Software Engineer43

8 most common titles, by people who held them.

First job on the record for 33% of people here.

Behind the median

Everyone here with an Eng Scorer read, placed in their caliber tier.

  • 2%Exceptional17 people
  • 14%Strong104 people
  • 30%Solid220 people
  • 46%Emerging336 people
  • 8%Unproven59 people

736 of the 1,703 people here carry an Eng Scorer tier.

121 of the 736 people here with a read sit in exceptional or strong, the top two of the five tiers, 16%. A tier is the band a caliber score falls in, so this is the same measurement as the median on the caliber card, opened up.

Whether a title rose here

The level of the first title recorded here, against the last.

38%Titles that rose513 of 1,363 classified people

  • 38%Rose513 people
  • 54%Stayed level735 people
  • 8%Fell115 people

1,363 of the 1,703 people here had a title that could be placed on the ladder before and after.

A title rose when the last title recorded here sits higher on the ladder than the first. For someone with one title here who then left, it's measured against the first title of their next role. The ladder runs intern, junior, mid, senior, staff or manager, principal, director, VP, then founder or C-level. Titles that match no rung are left out rather than guessed, and product, program and project managers are left out entirely as a different ladder. What's left leans towards people who have left: someone still here on one recorded title has nothing to measure against.

Where they studied

  1. Georgia Tech8.4%
  2. Carnegie Mellon6.2%
  3. UC Berkeley5.4%
  4. MIT4.8%
  5. Stanford4.3%
  6. Columbia2.7%
  7. Cornell2.7%
  8. UIUC2.6%

The 8 most listed schools among the 1,682 people here with a school on file.

141 of the 1,682 people here with a school on file list Georgia Tech, 105 list Carnegie Mellon and 91 list UC Berkeley. A person can list more than one, so these overlap.

Public work

one square is one in a hundred
34%have a public GitHub account on their profile

576 of the 1,702 people here whose profile was checked for public accounts. An account the check missed reads the same as no account, so this is a floor.

31% is the median across the 857 companies that can show this figure.

Where they are now

40% of the people who have worked at IBM and list a location live in the San Francisco Bay Area today, against 41% of everyone on the map.

IBM
Everyone on the map
  • 40%SF Bay Area680 · map 41%
  • 22%New York376 · map 18%
  • 11%Washington DC183 · map 13%
  • 6%Seattle103 · map 5%
  • 3%Los Angeles47 · map 5%
  • 2%Boston30 · map 2%
  • 2%Austin26 · map 0.8%
  • 1%Raleigh-Durham24 · map 0.3%
  • 14%Somewhere else233

1,702 of the 1,703 people who worked at IBM list a location, and every share here is over those 1,702.

Where they live now, from the profile as it reads today, not where they sat while working at IBM: a metro here isn't an office there. The lower strip is the same metros across the whole map.

Key facts

  • 1,703 people on the Zelcast alumni map have worked at IBM: 136 are there now, 1,567 have moved on.
  • Most leave for Google: 105 people, 7% of recorded departures. Then Microsoft and Amazon.
  • Most arrive from Microsoft: 29 people. Then Google and Accenture.
  • Median tenure at IBM: 2y 1m, middle half 11m to 3y 10m.
  • Of the people with a recorded next move after IBM, 2% went to a founder title next, 15% joined a company of 200 or fewer, and 34% joined one of 10,000 or more.
  • Median Eng Scorer caliber here: 79 on the 0 to 99 scale, across 737 scored people.
  • Most common title held here: Software Engineer, then Software Engineer Intern.
  • Top school: Georgia Tech, listed by 141 of the 1,682 people here with one on file (8.4%). Then Carnegie Mellon (105).
  • 40% of the 1,702 people here who list a location live in SF Bay Area today, against 41% across the map. Where they live now, not the office they sat in while they worked here.
  • 34% of the 1,702 people here whose profile was checked for public accounts have a public GitHub.
  • 513 rose, 735 stayed level, 115 fell, out of the 1,363 people here whose title could be placed on a ladder before and after.

About this data: built from 352,028 jobs across 67,181 engineers in the Zelcast network and Eng Scorer reads, updated September 30, 2026. A move counts when the next role starts within 24 months of leaving. Companies under 20 people on the map aren't shown, and destinations under 3 people fold into the totals. Caliber is the Eng Scorer score.

Worked at IBM? See how your profile reads to a startup hiring manager, and where it ranks among 67,181 engineers.

Previous on the mapCapital OneNo. 8 by people · 1,828 on the mapNext on the mapLockheed MartinNo. 10 by people · 1,537 on the map

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