IBM

IBM is a giant company with many opportunities for leadership. In my experience, first-line management is very understanding when dealing with life events, both expected and unexpected.

As a beginning engineer, you generally share your closed office with one other colleague, as opposed to an open layout (i.e., cubicles).

IBM Poughkeepsie is a very old site when compared to many competitors and even other IBM sites. Since there is no other large high-tech company in the area, there are very few perks. The products we are working on have a very long history, so there is a lot of legacy code and design that can be irritating to an engineer.

Lately, IBM has had a single-minded focus on driving higher earnings per share. This has been accomplished largely by strong leadership, but there have also been significant cuts. While there was a lot of fat to cut, now some of the cuts feel like they are hitting bone. Budgets for morale, travel, and the development cycle have been cut to a bare minimum, leaving employees feeling drained and unloved.