IBM are dead
The mainframe is dead, as business move to the Cloud.
Their Professional Services are irrelevant.
Watson is a product looking for a problem that doesn't exist.
My advice is let the HR and Execs have their way - zero staff for infinite profit - then watch the whole shitshow burn itself down to ash.
The downside is the Exec bastards who caused this will simply move on and burn somewhere else down for self profit.