IBM reviews

3.9

78% would recommend to a friend

(107,230 total reviews)
avatar

Arvind Krishna

76% approve of CEO

68% positive business outlook

IBM has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 107,230 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 Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

107K reviews
4.0
Oct 28, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

For a large company with over 330,000 employees, IBM does many things right as an employer. They pay competitively and have a solid benefits package. They have a great internal training program for things like management and project management. They delegate much of the human resources (HR) responsibilities to the first-line managers, so that key HR decisions are being made by those with the most knowledge about the employee instead of by HR representatives who couldn't pick the employee out of a line-up. They have a strong mentoring program (people who say they don't have a strong mentoring program probably weren't willing to put in the effort and time necessary to make those mentoring relationships fruitful). IBM is large enough that employees can have multiple careers without ever changing companies or having to rollover their 401k.

Cons

Anytime there is a large number of people, communications become harder. Project managers or engineers might think about the number of communication channels, which is n(n-1)/2 where n = number of stakeholders (Ref: PMBOK, 3rd ed.). For 330,000 employees, that means IBM has 54.4 billion communication channels. Obviously that is difficult to manage and work within. Recognizing that there is an inherent challenge in the liquidity of knowledge and information can help employees find ways to solve those problems, such as developing wikis for small teams. The other downside to having that many employees means that every time the company spends $3 on each employee, you just spent $1 million. Many employees don't understand this problem, and instead complain about only receiving free ice cream in the cafeteria after project milestone is reached when their cousin at the unprofitable, but well funded, start-up is getting free coffee and soda every day.

5.0
Oct 28, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of opportunity for growth - Very diverse organization Great flexibility for work/life balance Key is getting a good manager - Having a poor manager can make your life hell Very intelligent people - Industry leaders in many key areas

Cons

Too big - Difficult to get things done. Never enough funding to do things right. Remote workforce is challenging - you rarely get to meet the folks you work with Many American jobs moving overseas - Discouraging to see very talented American colleagues losing their jobs

3.0
Oct 26, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Being part of the state of the art of technology development. Being on the cutting edge. People work hard and produce in this division. It's great to work with such a talented and motivated group.

Cons

Career advancement and recognition are almost non-existent relative to other divisions within IBM. Other IBM divisions are recognized for their accomplishments. RSUs, options and annual awards are the norm. These things are RARE in IBM Micro. This "other division" recognition is hard to swallow when you realize that it is your team's accomplishments that have SIGNIFICANTLY helped the other divisions succeed. An important but not immediately necessary IBM non-benefit is the lack of a retirement health plan for new employees. Plain and simple, there is none. This is a huge downside for IBM.

Viewing 106579 - 106581 of 107,230 Reviews

Glassdoor has 131,657 IBM reviews submitted anonymously by IBM employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if IBM is right for you.