IBM reviews

3.9

78% would recommend to a friend

(107,184 total reviews)
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Arvind Krishna

76% approve of CEO

68% positive business outlook

IBM has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 107,184 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The IBM employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the IT (Information Technology) industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

107K reviews
2.0
Jun 16, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It is a relatively solid company that has a good history and longevity in the marketplace. There is a lot of opportunity for growth within the company, and it seems like there are some managers that really want to help you flourish in the company. They have a great work-life-balance perspective, but unless you're in a personal crisis - you are expected to perform above and beyond (as the norm)

Cons

Corporate bureaucracy, lack of employee appreciation, poor planning on many internal projects that lead to disastrous or clunky tools for the internal population. We're a top technology company who makes it's employees use antiquated hardware and tools.

2.0
Jun 16, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you are just out of college, this company will allow you to travel and see parts of the US (as long as they are generally major cities). In fact, this is the ideal employee for the company since they can work you as much as they please, and you are unlikely to complain.

Cons

IBM used to be the benchmark for IT workers, but is no longer. I joined this company from an outsourcing, and regret that I did. They are the worst sort of corporate abusers, continuously asking you to work more hours, provide "giveback" (i.e. free extra hours work from you), without any compensation. Their incentive plans are laughable, including a recent one-time bonus of $100 if you worked 45 hours in a week. For many workers here, they reduced their salaries 10%, put them on an hourly pay scheme, and then force them to work an extra 4-5 hours per week to make up the difference. The first line managers have no power or decision making authority to speak of, and just spout the company line. Upper management is clueless, and think they can replace us at anytime with low cost Global Resources (e.g. Indians, Brazilians, Chinese). These are the worst aspects of modern capitalism. I am strictly a hired gun for these people, and have no loyalty whatsoever. And unfortunately, that's the way I'm treated by them. If you are being outsourced to this company, run. They will f*ck you over. We are getting no inflationary pay rises this year, at all, and the difference between a good employee and a better employee is approximately 1.5% in compensation. I don't even bother anymore, as I consider my time more valuable than the pittance they offer. In fairness, I've had enough, and am currently looking for a new job. My advice: avoid IBM Global Services.

4.0
Jun 16, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Large companies like IBM provide innumerable opportunities for career advancement and personal growth. I'm happy with my compensation and I feel like IBM has good systems in place for employee feedback and review processes. Also, I feel work/life balance is effective at IBM. As less staff is asked to do more, management does appear more flexible on where and when that work is accomplished.

Cons

IBM is clearly extremely committed to moving all new staffing overseas to cheaper labor markets. It makes being a US employee frustrating and causes continual staff paranoia. US staff members are rarely replaced, and the existing US workforce is continually forced to do more with less. Resource actions (forced headcount reductions) and department offshoring plans are constantly in progress, and it causes a constant unproductive rumor mill effect across all organizations.

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