General Motors

I want to preface everything I say here by saying that GM IT is very large and diverse. The experience that one person has isn't necessarily the experience that other people will have, because it will differ from manager to manager.

GM IT is still relatively new. A few years back, they hired thousands of people all at once, and there were some real growing pains. It's getting better, but there's definitely still room to grow.

Because GM is an old car manufacturer, people assume that the IT environment here is very formal. It's not. It doesn't have the techy environment that you see from typical large software shops like Google. There is a bit of a balance.

Very relaxed working environment. The work-life balance here really can't be matched. Again, this depends on the team you are on, but for the most part, work-life balance seems to be what people like about here the most.

The health insurance is good. You get some money on your HSA card every year for a physical. They do pay a few thousand per year for education reimbursement, which is nice if you decide to go to grad school.

I came in as a college hire. When the company hired all the people at once, there was no real vetting process. It was as if they hired anyone that can turn on a computer.

Over the years, these people have stuck around. It can be really frustrating to work with these people.

What makes this more frustrating is that the company has a lack of opportunities for raises and promotions. So, it doesn't seem to matter if you work hard or if you spend all day chilling. You will be compensated the same and given the same raise.

This may be a positive for people who just want to show up at work and collect a pay check. But it stops people from going out and being ambitious and excelling at work.

Because the company doesn't promote or provide opportunities for upward mobility, all of the good talent tends to leave for companies that do give these opportunities. These people are either never replaced or replaced with college hires. As a company, we really should be doing a better job of retaining the good talent and letting the bottom people go elsewhere. However, it seems to be the opposite. So, I'm not looking forward to what GM IT will look like in a few years.

The last thing I will say: The salary isn't great. I would say it's at the bottom level of competitive. Like, if a competitive salary in the area is between $x-$y, then GM is paying you $x on the dot.

You're going to really start seeing some issues in the next couple of years when all of the great developers you originally hired go elsewhere. You need to keep the good people and let the bad people go. Make your employees feel valuable, and they will be able to do some great work for you.