Company: IBM
Date: 2009-07-17
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former

It was a great first career ... that lasted 25+ years
Pros: Given the size of IBM, there are a variety of business areas to work in and gain tremendous business knowledge.  In years past, strong and competent employees had many opportunities to move around to different job roles across various business areas.  Most managers empower employees to be self-sufficient and independent ... "micro managers" are in the minority. It was easy to feel a sense of personal ownership in the work that you were doing.  There was generally a very good teaming attitude across departments and business units.  IBM employees are typically very bright, ethical, and well trained professionals.
Cons: It seems that executive management does not recognize the value of people performing operational/support roles.  If an employee is not directly impacting revenue, that job is likely considered non-critical and subject to elimination.   I understand that revenue is critical for business success, but this approach is somewhat tactical and rather short sided in my opinion.  In many cases, employees are simply considered expendable resources.  The respect that IBM employees used to garner from management seems to be non existent.