IBM reviews

3.9

78% would recommend to a friend

(107,178 total reviews)
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Arvind Krishna

76% approve of CEO

68% positive business outlook

IBM has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 107,178 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The IBM employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

107K reviews
2.0
Jun 25, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Large company, likely to stay in business. Unfortunately, there is no stability or security; there appears to be a constant drive to exploit employees by making non-professionals exempt, reducing vacations, and benefits. Exempt folks are required to work 10% overtime. Managers are kept away from their employees -- it is much less stressful to lay someone off if you have never met. Even "teams" are assembled from distant locations, creates less emotion when someone is "disappeared". There is no company education -- early in the year, there is no budget; later in the year, there is no time available. Not the great company IBM once was; Sam sets the tone.

Cons

Working at IBM is like playing roulette. Whether you have a job day-to-day is like spinning a wheel; your continued employment has nothing to do with your abilities or competence. I met my last manager face to face for the first time on the day I left the company. I had worked for her for two years.

2.0
Jun 25, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The name. IBM carries a certain weight with it. IBM employees are usually well trained. IBM is a very good corporate citizen. I think you will find the public relations side very good. The benefits are better than most but declining quickly. It is very easy to call on customers when you drop the "IBM" name. IBM also has great products and advertising. It has always been a company of innovation. Although some may say it's too lage to be effective (I may agree). It is amazing that senior management can get 300,000 people pointed in the same direction each quarter.

Cons

Too much partisan politics, not enough time spent on winning in the market and helping customers. IBM by nature is a very political culture. So much, that I believe it get's in the way of being effective. The fifedon's that are often set up (ibm.com) are built around a smokescreen. Too many people spend far too much time in job justification or trying to build their empire rather than focusing energy on helping customers. If a large portion of your time is spent bulidng a beach head to avoid the axe, how much time can you really spend on gaining marketshare.

4.0
Jun 25, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Name recognition in the marketplace, IBM leads in many different areas and involved with latest technology which you can learn, access to training material and software to learn whatever you want at your own pace, IBM is so large you can get lost and hide, If you are just out of school, IBM is a great place to work for 2-5 years and learn as much as you can, after that you will do better by leaving and leveraging the IBM name to pursue your goals,

Cons

Poor planning on managements part should be reflected in "their" pay not ours, too much rhetoric not supported by management actions, Career paths look good on paper, not in reality to achieve, Pay "bands" overlap so much they become mostly meaningless (unless you are at the top of your band, you will get NO raise), the percentage difference (and bonus difference) between being a top performer (a "1") and a high performer (a "2+") does not justify all the additional work and time away from your life from a salary perspective (1% difference in pay increase), Company too nosey in your personal life and activities, Education reimbursment...few and far between and locked in for 5 years after masters if you can get reimbursement

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