Company: IBM
Date: 2011-05-12
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current

Potential to be great, let down by penny pinching and feral senior management
Pros: A broad spectrum of job opportunities within IBM, some flexibility (e.g. work from home).  Good access to on-line training.  First line management is often very supportive, but higher levels are driven purely by financials, and only focused on achieving their own remuneration no matter what it does to the employees.
Cons: Salary levels below industry. For the "new hires" of less than 2 or 3 years who think that "old-timers are complaining and whining", note that you have been initially hired at the industry rate to get you in, do not expect any pay rises, after 5 years your pay will be below industry. Pay is based on revenue and profit targets handed down from on high from HQ in the USA, and is designed to ensure that you cannot achieve your promised pay- one year we (technical team) were not even given the targets and the money you would get if IBM reached the (unknown) target, as these figures were "confidential", so there was no way to see if you were being paid properly.  Targets are set to be unachievable, and are aggregated to such a level that "if china sneezes, your bank balance catches a cold". IBM forces you to take on a personal credit card to avoid carrying short term expenses on its books (is this even legal?). There is definitely an aggressive culture in the sales area, with micro-management of sales people (if you go into sales, expect that as you approach achieving your quota, that it will be raised to ensure you don't make it). Workload is high, and IBM has a lot of processes which are inefficient and time-sapping.