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Good place for an internship, not good for a career

Advisory Software Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at IBM for 20 years
July 23, 2013
Durham, North Carolina
1.0
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

Pay and benefits are competitive.

It's a good opportunity for interns or contractors who are not looking for permanent employment.

Cons

Always worried about layoffs regardless of performance. Resource actions occur regardless of whether we meet our sales and profit goals.

Cost-cutting is ridiculous. Hardware for developers is underpowered and must last for a minimum of 4 years. You are not allowed to purchase and use your own hardware either. It's very difficult being productive with the resources given.

Perks have long ago been eliminated; you have to even pay for coffee through vending machines.

Employee morale is awful. Many high-performing employees have left for other opportunities, taking valuable knowledge with them. Software quality is suffering, and many customers are dissatisfied.

The general mood is that upper-management does not care about their employees at all and only sees us as numbers in an expense column. Nothing is more important than profit margin targets. Even declining revenue doesn't seem to be concerning. It feels like IBM executives are engaging in a pump-and-dump scheme. The long-term viability of the company seems uncertain.

Advice to Management

Stop using marketing-lingo and spin on employees when taking away perks and benefits. We're smart people and can see through the lingo. It comes off as insulting to our intelligence.

Be honest about what your intentions are. If you're planning on eliminating your permanent U.S. headcount by 2015, tell us so that we can look for other opportunities.

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