IBM reviews

3.9

78% would recommend to a friend

(107,291 total reviews)
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Arvind Krishna

77% approve of CEO

68% positive business outlook

IBM has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 107,291 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 Informatique industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

107K reviews
3.0
Dec 14, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everyone knows that you are working for a great company and you are looked upon for leadership based on your experience. Using the knowledge and skills learned from my time at GBS, I was did well in an MBA program -- post-consulting career. The personal perks include: airmiles and hotel points.

Cons

As a consultant, you are more in tune with the client. Its also difficult to get noticed by your managers for jobs well done. If you are not careful completing all necessary administrative work, it may mean the difference between a great bonus or an alright one. IBM does not allow you to collect American Express points.

5.0
Dec 11, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good opportunity for advancement, excellent benefits. Advancement is very good. You have room to be creative and present in foront of higher level management. The training is excellent. Education is key and they allow you to take a lot of classes to expand your knowledge.

Cons

Good old boy network is a problem. They tend to promote people they like. If you are not close to someone you have a difficult time getting promoted.

2.0
Dec 10, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working at IBM there were many opportunities to learn new technologies and a wide range of jobs available if interested in moving about the company. HR and corporate IT were competent and professional. Managers were typically well trained in their roles (e.g. strong focus on communication and coaching). Coworkers were usually sane, intelligent and amiable.

Cons

The business focus was driven entirely quarterly. Very bad vibe coming from middle-management (who didn't care about their professional employees). The atmosphere felt cold and chronically stressed-out. Upper management was aggressive about rolling back employee compensation (e.g., shifting focus toward younger, shorter-term employees that can work insane amounts and burn out). Easy to become pigeonholed in a bad role/division (managers can block you from seeking different jobs within the company... and do exercise the right during horrible projects or in bad teams -- most of which are). Feedback/ratings were based more on gaming the system than actual employee contribution (i.e. to limit bonuses/raises there can be only one, maybe two, excellently rated employees in your team; the rest have to be average). Most importantly, moving up in terms of leadership is only a doorway into some weird political arena where you are more responsible for gaming the arbitrary metrics defining success than in actual accomplishment -- i.e., you do whatever it takes to affect some meaningless improvement in a spreadsheet. It's an OK place, but don't stay too long or it will rob you of the skills needed to survive outside the company. Lots of people in their late 20's talk about their big ideas outside the company, but get comfortable and never go anywhere. But the company is ruthless now so realize from the day you join your days are numbers (so always keep exit doors open so when the time comes it's for the betterment of your career rather than for the sake of whether your division exceeds or underperforms its quarterly target by one percent).

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