Great learning opportunities but frustrating bureaucracy and slow progression
Pros
Excellent learning opportunities and vast training resources available to employees. The Austin campus has a great community, and you get to work alongside very smart, talented, and collaborative peers. Having the "Big Blue" brand name on your resume opens a lot of doors for future career steps.
Cons
The company is incredibly large, which means navigating internal bureaucracy and red tape can be highly frustrating. Compensation and annual raises sometimes lag slightly behind local market averages for tech companies in Austin. Career progression feels slow, and merit-based raises are hard to come by. Recent strict enforcement of Return to Office (RTO) policies has hurt team morale, and the heavy reliance on automated/AI tools for internal HR support makes resolving personal administrative issues exhausting.
