IBM

The flexibility is great. You can work whenever and wherever, within reason.

You can work on a variety of technologies, and switching jobs within IBM is not very difficult.

Read the below for details, but in short, stay away. There are just so many other better companies to work for that will offer you better career opportunities, compensation, and a humanizing work environment.

The benefits and compensation are truly average. Every year I have been here, they have taken something away from the employees, for example:

• Free coffee
• Water jugs
• Paid coffee (yes, they took that away)
• Subsidized cafeteria food
• Team social events
• Site social events
• Tennis courts (closed down due to disrepair)
• Employee stock purchasing plan went from a 15% deduction to 10%
• 401k is not matched but once a year instead of per paycheck, which for those who don't get it means you can't earn money that you don't have until they pay out at year-end... assuming they haven't fired you.

They have had consistent layoffs or selling of technology since 2009, reducing the local site almost 50%. I understand every company has had to adjust in the current economic climate, but match the above with IBM's record Earnings Per Share numbers and astronomical revenues, and it's a simple formula. Upper management is attempting to meet ludicrous goals at the expense of its employees.

Stop driving all your company decisions based on short-sighted goals around earnings per share. It's an unsustainable model, and it's going to kill the company.