Pros: Work-life balance is good.

Cons: Less pay, hikes, and now, in the current scenario, no work-life balance.

Pros: None that I can think of.

Cons: Toxic politics, inept colleagues. Management rules by fear. Blatant age discrimination. IBM only hires the cheapest it can possibly find. Not the best or even second-best. Ginni Rometty's braindead platitudes are considered pearls of wisdom. Self-promotion by backstabbing others instead of demonstrable accomplishments is the standard. HR and management at all levels are keenly aware of all this. They don't care. If you are over 40, or if someone in your management chain doesn't like you, you will be disposed of in no time. IBM is the only place I've ever worked where not delivering anything simply doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is creating the appearance of work, by organizing countless meetings and producing massive amounts of paperwork. For a Tier 1 tech company, health benefits are subpar and expensive. To top it off, they got rid of their 401(k) starting in 2024.

Pros: IBM has/had a lot of great people who have passion for their work. IBM is great at acquiring college talent via their Extreme Blue program, but they cannot retain it. Very flexible with work location and hours.

Cons: IBM's 2015 stock plan has resulted in cutting top technical talent. Executives are so focused on short-term earnings that they have sacrificed the future. Innovation has ground to a halt, and most divisions are struggling to find the next big product. Without a major change in leadership, the company is going to sink. Top performers (top ~10%) were not given a raise two years in a row, sending a very clear message that talent can go elsewhere. Over the last five years, here are some of the "savings" that were enacted: * Taking away free coffee * The "adopt a plant" initiative * Removal of individual trash cans to minimize housekeeping costs * Elimination of employee services and education center Worst of all, our 401k was changed to only vest in one lump sum at the end of the year instead of per paycheck. If you leave before December, you lose anything you would have received. They will slash anything or anyone regardless of the bigger picture. It is very difficult to move internally, and the employee rating system is broken.