IBM

Great benefits - one of the best 401k plans, good healthcare options.

Very good work/life balance - work from home options.

Good place if you want to get into a management path.

Very big and slow-moving company. Typically the last ones to try anything new and cool, on the verge of being obsolete in terms of software offerings and research.

You can't just do good work and expect to be promoted. You need to work for the "right" people on the "right" projects, often doing grunge work to get recognized. Too many good people get overlooked while other unqualified people get fast-tracked in their careers.

Software engineers often switch to the management path to get job growth, as managers run the company rather than technical people. The technical career path is not as well-defined as the management path is.

Pay is mediocre compared to other big companies in the area. Top management rakes in big bonuses and stock each year, while individual departments get tiny amounts to distribute as raises. Getting a 2-3% raise is considered a big deal.

Think of ways to retain and employ talent while reducing deadwood in the company.

Improve pay and make it competitive with the market.

Invest in new areas of research. It's been ages since IBM came up with something worthwhile and cutting-edge.

All the company seems to be doing is acquisitions and making money off of that.