Company: IBM
Date: 2009-05-16
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former

Glad to be an EX IBMer.
Pros: I find it hard to think of anything positive to say. My management seemed tolerant and supportive of me taking time off or flexing my schedule when needed during recent family issues, but I can't help but feel that the time also was a big part of the reason I was declare "surplus" and ended up on the "resource action" list. I suppose the IBM name still carries some weight when used on a resume due to their past reputation, but I think that will change as more ex IBMers get into the workforce elsewhere. The large scale of the company does make a lot of information and resources available to you, but after working at 50-60 hours a week you don't have much time to take advantage of them.
Cons: I was spread so thin I could barely be effective in my primary support areas and hardly scraped by in other functions that were dumped on me. I worked on a team that went from 10 people down to 2 over 8 years in the position. Every time someone left, their work was piled on the remaining team members with a brief overview and they were now the 'expert' on something they barely were familiar with. I'm not talking simple tasks here. I'm referring to software and processes that take months toget a comfort level with and years to develop a complete knowledge and understanding of.

You do not get training unless you count taking online classes on your own time after working way too many hours to begin with.

I did not get a raise at all in the last 4 years working there even though I always had good reviews. In addition the yearly performance based variable pay went down every year even though I remainded a solid contributor and my team, department, and division were doing well.

It is obvious that company does not actually care about the quality of service they give their customers. Reducing the cost of delivering the service is by far their biggest concern. Basically you keep things at status quo, not improve them. My skills diminished because I did not have access to the latest technology and training. This makes it hard to compete with others in the job market outside of IBM.

Quarterly reports and news articles of fantastic results and positive outlooks, but there is no funding for your bonus, you will not get a salary increase, you cannot take that class, and that travel budgets are frozen. Now you even have to pay for your own network access, even if you are required to be able to connect remotely. You there is still exorbitant pay and golden parachutes for the executives.

Benefits seem to be less and less and cost more and more out of pocket every year. There is no longer a true pension. They are forcing people to relocate or train replacements. The relocations are usually to undesirable areas with lower cost of living so you have to take a cut in pay as well and you have no guarantee of job longevity if you make the move. The moves are out of your own pocket as well and you have 30 days to decide to accept, 45 days to actually be there and working.

I was in constant fear of loosing my job for the last several years, and it came to pass, even though I was working hard and my team was spread way too thin. There were always rumors of upcoming layoffs, moving jobs to cheaper centers or overseas, and other frightening scenarios. The rumors were true much more often than not. I typically learned much more about the future of the company and my job from rumors than from management sharing information.

I would not recommend working for IBM to anyone other than someone just starting out in the workforce. You might think I'm just bitter because I was laid off, but I have felt this way for a long time. Even though I am currently still unemployed and looking for work and it sucks to have been let go like that after all I did for the company, I am actually glad that I no longer work for them and I have the opportunity and incentive to find some better and feel like I make a difference.