Company: IBM
Date: 2012-01-31
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

Not as good as it used to be
Pros: Benefits including health care insurance are available from the first day of work. Premiums for a family with kids (IBM PPO plan) are $319 per month plus $33 for the Basic PPO dental plan. The company matches 5% towards your 401(k).
Cons: There are a lot of IBMers who work from home. That's fine, but it is thing of the past. If you get into one of their Delivery centers, do not expect to be allowed to work from home. Due to a new "process" and "framework", all work now should be done inside those center (sort of "team work" or "team work environment"). So to summarize the Columbia (Missouri) delivery center:
- no work from home
- very limited-choice cafeteria with a coffee machine working only from 11AM to 2PM. They sell a cup of coffee for $1.39. So people bring thermoses.
- no free coffee (no coffee makers are allowed - so you cannot create a coffee club)
- no free hot water (to make a cup of hot chocolate or oatmeal). To fair, there are microwaves.
- no windows (there are windows but they are frosted, so you can't see outside)