IBM

It may not be the most mobile company, but if you want to do something different or get involved with a new project, it is a huge company and those opportunities are available.

You can telecommute at most any job.

Benefits are top-notch.

Diversity is embraced and supported.

You get to work with people from every country and timezone.

Technical employees can often be difficult to work with.

Few people ever get fired, so there are often unqualified people you need to work around.

It is a huge company, so promotions and recognition are often slow or difficult to get. You really need to set yourself apart from the crowd.

Besides the traditional benefits like health plan and 401K, which are industry-leading, on-the-job perks are pretty lacking.

• Cafeteria
• Break-rooms
• Sponsored activities

Early employees are often paid the same amount as people who have been trained and worked at IBM for one or two years. IBM needs to go back to the system where new hires were promoted in quick stages as they reach technical competence. This will keep new hires from leaving for better-paying jobs as soon as they get trained.

Managers need to understand the new generation better. More frequent job feedback and recognition (even trivial) of career milestones are far more important compared to the baby boomers, who are mostly settled down and content with the status quo.

Finally, Sam Palmisano seems to be guiding IBM down the path of amorphous and intangible deliverables. "Smarter Planet" is described using jargon and business buzzspeak instead of showing and selling actual solutions. This is what happens when you put a Business Services person in charge of a technology company.

If IBM continues to commoditize its hardware and software and farm out development of actual tangible deliverables, I fear there won't be any distinguishing factor between IBM and other companies.