Company: IBM
Date: 2016-08-07
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

R.I.P.
Pros: Generally very good people to work with. Benefits are decent. There used to be lots of opportunity available, much less now.
Cons: This is a company that has seriously lost its way.  That irrefutable fact is concretely reflected in its recent business results – 17 straight quarters of declining revenue, with another 18th likely in October.

I worked in various roles, lately in sales.  Believe me, none of my colleagues would still be employed within IBM with that kind of track record.  None.  Four straight quarters of missing quota and you’re on “The Plan.”  Seventeen?  The firm’s executives just continue to line their pockets while driving the company into the ground, with no repercussions whatsoever.  The Board of Directors is simply exhibiting parasitic behavior, rather than representing the shareholders as is their responsibility.

But let’s say you do a good job as an IBM employee.  What is your reward?  Well, I just received a “1” rating, the highest given.  Probably less than 10% of all workers earn this.  I was also honored with the prestigious “Best of IBM” award, which provided an all-expense-paid trip to Maui for me and my spouse.  Then, two weeks and one day upon returning from Hawaii, my manager called me to tell me that my “job role has been eliminated.”  Or, “Resource Actioned (RAed)” in the Orwellian doublespeak of IBM.  No mention of trying to place me elsewhere.  Simply “adios.”

Why didn’t my manager fight harder on my behalf?  Well, he is literally my fifth manager in seven quarters, and he lives 400+ miles away.  If you come to work at IBM, be prepared to be managed by lots of people you barely know.  And who barely know you.  It makes that RA call a lot easier for them.  There are thousands of such calls taking place every few months now, as entire roles are eliminated, teams moved overseas, and older workers cut.

OK, so I got cut.  After more than two decades of service, at least I got a decent separation package, right?  Not so fast.  One area in which IBM HR has been exceptionally proficient the past few years is finding new and industry-leading ways to screw its employees.  On January 1st, 2016, a new policy was quietly (no announcement) introduced that changed the traditional “week of pay for every six months of employment” to a nice, consistent four weeks of severance for everyone.  Thirty-five years of dedicated service to IBM?  Here’s your four weeks’ severance, thanks for your long-standing dedication!  I don’t know of any other major U.S. corporation that has such cruel, selfish and draconian severance policies – but I’m sure many will follow IBM’s lead in the upcoming years.

Another great (for IBM) change made a few years back is in relation to the firm’s 401(k) match.  In 1999, IBM killed its defined pension plan, leaving tens of thousands of employees who were counting their days to retirement in the lurch.  The company was shifting to the 401(k) to bolster employees’ retirement packages.  But then, in 2012, the firm announced that it would no longer match employee contributions every pay period, as was the norm.  Instead, it would send its matching chunk of cash only at the end of the year, if the employee was still with the company on December 15th.  This creates even more internal incentive to increase the number of layoffs among older (higher salaries on average) workers.
So, in short: what’s it like overall to work for IBM?  In general, its employees are great, talented and hard-working.  Morale, however, is spiraling downwards as the company continues to attempt to prop up profits in the only way it can: by cutting expenses.  IBMers (especially those over 50 years of age) are getting very sore necks from looking over their shoulder every day, worried about yet another round of impending layoffs, or some inventive policy change from HR intended to take money out of employee pockets.  I will be very, very surprised if IBM is still a “player” in the industry come 2025; the combination of terrible, greedy executives, a flawed and tardy cloud strategy, and plummeting morale will lead to its inevitable conclusion.  RIP, IBM.

P.S. The good news is that I just received my “100% Club” plaque in the mail, along with my “Best of IBM” one!  Both arrived after being shown the door.  I proudly threw both in the garbage.