IBM

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.

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.

Can the 2015 plan bring in a new CEO from the outside to clean house and focus on R&D again?