IBM

• Flexible work hours.
• Access to a lot of technology and tools.

Problem #1: My personal profile caused me problems.

There was very little "diversity" in the team I worked with (all French Canadians). My roots are different, and my co-workers regularly reminded me that I was not one of them. A manager even told me once: "You are a particular person. You have an accent..."

(I am in a more diversified environment now, and I fit in much better).

I believe this first problem does not affect IBM employees in general (it was specific to the team I was in, and the fact that I was an outsider).

Problem #2: End-of-year evaluations were completely uncorrelated with the work I accomplished. When I worked very hard, that is when I got the worst evaluations. Other times, when I did "regular work", without too much effort, I was often thanked for my great work!

Advice to others: Be careful when you are in this type of environment, because it can lead to mental problems if you do not realize that there is great inconsistency in the way you are treated.

I believe this second problem affects many IBMers, all around the world (being treated with great inconsistency).

I don't have any advice. The company is going through challenging times, and that is sad.

I still gave a pretty good evaluation for IBM, even if my personal experience was really bad (it completely sucked).

The best thing employees can do is to move on to another more civilized environment, if this is something they can afford. Everybody has to earn a living...

Thanks to Glassdoor for letting us share.