General Motors

I loved the enthusiasm and energy from the younger developers. The 401K is good, but only vests after 3 years. They don't like to mention that part during interviews.

Far too much politics. The project is put before people and product, leading to unhappy people and low-quality product.

There's far too much pressure to meet deadlines at the cost of quality and even sanity. Too many people are looking out for themselves, getting ahead by stepping on others instead of by showing initiative, innovation, and enthusiasm.

Much of this culture seems to trickle down from senior management. You don't see it in the younger folks. Much of it seems to come from Dell and HP (who came from Dell) employees.

You won't be able to compete with other IT organizations if you don't start placing people first.

Make people happy to work there because it's a great place to work. Don't make them feel like they should be happy to have a job.

A positive work environment works REALLY well in the IT industry. IT folks are not line workers, and can't be measured by simple numbers.

They need to have the tools and freedom to think and innovate. See Google.