An interesting POV. I certainly hope that's true. Is IBM reputation good in the contractor space? As in, are their services largely viewed as dependable and good value?
How does that make sense? Can the "grad" do good enough job compared to a senior? I've seen my fair share of "senior" developers, who had insanely high salaries for some strange reason yet their output was mediocre at best. Laying off these people I can understand.
That said, management is notoriously bad at spotting these people. Chances are they lay off the only person who knows how some crucial piece of SW works...