Or was it always the same toxic mess that it is now? I've been here for a year so I don't know about how it was before, but I do hear some of my coworkers talk about the "good old days" occasionally and it makes me wonder if those days were really that good or do they simply have rose-colored glasses on when remembering.
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The work culture was great when IBM could afford to be generous, i.e. had little competition and made lots of money. When IBM realized it had to trim the fat and tighten the belt with layoffs and small/no raises, there was no turning back. Buying outside companies introduced more aggressive and ruthless work cultures. IBM missed major paradigm shifts such as cloud computing and was left behind.
If you want a good work culture, find a company that’s ki----g it financially and needs to keep the employees happy.
The 20+ years I was there it was always bad. I left in 2021. I’ve heard it was good way way back but I know it was not good in the last 20 years.
No is the answer!
If you have guts be brave and post the same question on ama-ibm slack channel.
I worked at IBM for almost 40 years, and it was really a fantastic place at one time. Amazing technology, some of the smartest people on the planet, and a highly professional and fun yet respectful work environment. However, IBM lost its way when "Respect for the Individual" was abandoned as a core value. Corrupt Management somehow got away with ignoring their fiduciary responsibilities to the company and started using it as a "Ponzi Scheme" to enrich themselves through stock options and other chicanery. Now it's just a sad, pathetic place living on past glories, where Management and HR encourage a "Hunger Games" culture and have employees fight over the table scraps that are thrown to them. It's truly heartbreaking to see what IBM has become. 😞
Hired on in 1996 and it was good until Sam Palmisano took over. There were numerous opportunities for merit increases, promotions, bonsues and recognition was frequent and encouraged.
Enter the incredibly arrogant Sam Palmisano who in 2010 introduced the infamous 2015 roadmap aka "roadkill" which promised Wall Street and investors the company would deliver $20 per share by 2015. Imagine anyone someone thinking they can predict the tech landscape 5 years out, IBM missed horribly on their predictions and on their EPS promise. Ginni's mistake among many was not walking away from the roadmap sooner than she did.
IBM was a great place to work when I signed on in 1984. IBM was employee focused, had good benefits, and really cared about people. Back then they believed that if you took care of the employees, the employees would take care of the clients/ business and everything would fall into place. The first 10 years of working at IBM was fabulous!
That started to change around the mid 1990's when the company decided it just wanted to be "part of the tech pack...not exceed in salary/benefits or try to attract TOP talent at a premium price". It was around then when the layoffs started, IBM started eroding the medical benefits each year, in 1999 when they got rid of the old pension plan, and 2003 when they got rid of retiree medical. As of January 2004, all hires have is the 401K for retirement....no pension & no supplemental retiree medical.
Many new hires complain about 401K match not starting until after their 1 year service anniversary and only being paid out on 12/31/xx for the xx year IF YOU WERE STILL AN EMPLOYEE on 12/15/xx (only those leaving due to "retirement" get the partial year match on the way out the door). Most fail to read the 401K matching documentation and have to have the situation explained to them when they do not get the match to begin with and then when they do not get a match every paycheck after they hit the 1-year anniversary mark. Essentially, they miss out on 1 full year of matching on joining and a partial year of matching when they leave.
At this point, it will only get worse so many of us are retiring (including myself on May 31 this year) and moving on to other interests.
These good stories are probably from 80s or before. It was that long ago that ibm was ever a good place to work.
Just leave or plan to leave if you're young. It sucks to work there.
Things weren't great when Ginni took over. But it all went quickly downhill from there. She was absolutely horrible.
Not to mention real team work. Senior employees were not worried about new hires replacing them. Working knowledge was passed on and true mentoring took place.
Life events were celebrated and most of us knew everybody's kids names.
Not unusual to see all your co-workers, support staff and several levels of management at a wake for a child or spouse.
Hmmmm,
COLA raise based on economy and then merit raise based on merit. Work harder/smarter and make more.
Real family days to show that IBM cared about home life.
Outside seminars and lectures to keep you up to date.
A retirement pension that was not too bad. Older employees whose pension got robbed had a decent 401K making possible to retire with decent retirement. Pension + 401K+ social security = about mid middle class.
Personnel dept that was for the employee. Not the new HR.
I loved my job until the 1993 blood bath. It just got worse from then on. As soon as my 401K number hit my planned mark I bolted and never looked back.