To paraphrase the old saying about IBM: nobody ever got fired for closing a defined benefit pension plan. The computer group's proposal to close its UK plan to existing members, freezing their pension pot, marks another step in the gradual extinction of the most generous retirement schemes in the world.

IBM insists its review of retirement benefits is done on a country-by-country basis. But UK staff might have seen the writing on the wall last year, when "Big Blue" finally ceased accruals to its US defined benefit plan.