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Was good 20 years ago, but now..

Advisory Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at IBM for less than 1 year
May 10, 2016
Amsterdam, Netherlands
2.0
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros
  • Multicultural workplace.
  • Access to new technologies (when you can find them).
  • Interesting project.
  • Excellent first-time job before hopping into the marketplace.
  • Excellent work/life balance (probably depends on the job/location).
Cons
  • Too much bureaucratic process for everything.
  • Salary stuck since several years.
  • Frequent change in process and organization; it looks like nobody knows where to go or how to do it. It's just going with the marketing flow and the buzzword of the month.
  • Money and stock price first, customers second, employees last.
  • Better to be a manager if you want to survive. You can even be a manager of only 1 or 2 people and stay in place for years.
  • No team spirit unless it benefits the individual. As you are ranked compared to your peers (even with the so-called new system), everyone is an "adversary" around you.
  • Unless you're a manager or in the top 2%, you will probably be fired before having any kind of real promotion.
Advice to Management

Get rid of management. Remove layers of managers. Listen to the ones who do the work and have experience, and not the ones sleeping behind their desks staring at stock prices. Stop selling the company in pieces and focus on something, not everything, at the same time.

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