IBM

Working at the forefront of technology, building some of the most complex and powerful servers in the world.

Most technology, tools, and methodologies are developed in-house. One can easily get hold of the experts on each of them and influence decisions, request features, and work on pushing the boundaries of technology further.

IBM is one of the most flexible companies I know of in terms of working from home/remotely and planning your regular work hours. Additionally, the global teaming makes for some great contacts from around the world.

IBM is so big that making career changes is possible within the company. Since they're active in all fields of IT, there's usually a job in any area one would like to explore.

Everything is driven by the EPS goals of the 2015 roadmap, which results in some extreme measures. Office supplies are barely or not provided any longer. Offices are only cleaned once a quarter. All assistants have been consolidated into a few site positions. People are providing their own IT equipment because getting anything beyond the basic laptop, such as a docking station, keyboard, or extra power supply, is subject to budgeting scrutiny.

Due to the constant cost-cutting, there have been many rounds of layoffs affecting even solidly contributing employees. This results in the remaining team having to cover even more work, and there's no adjusting of deadlines due to this either. At the same time, the management team preaches that "innovation matters," but there is really no time provided to pursue new ideas. Even if you had a great new idea, there's no system for providing awards to employees anymore, except for large corporate-level awards.

Training is only provided in the form of free online classes. Conference travel is sometimes possible, but only if one has a paper to present at the conference.