EMC – “Just waiting to find the greener grass”

Pros

For training opportunities, they are far better than my last employer. You're almost expected to take a week-long course every quarter. Contrast this with my experience at IBM, where everything was about Java, but they wouldn't pay to send you to a Java course. At EMC, I've taken four of them already.

Some of the products can be pretty interesting and dynamic, but a lot of them are totally sustaining engineering "minimal change" products, that are dull and unfulfilling to work on. (oops, this is supposed to be the "good" section. :)

The other good thing I noticed when I arrived is a higher caliber of talent than at my last employer, especially in the first level manager ranks. Above that is pretty uninspiring though.

Cons

EMC is ultra-aggressive with layoffs. If they even think they're going to miss a revenue number by a penny, heads are going to roll. In my orientation when I was hired, half the people there were re-hires. Given their reputation for showing no loyalty to employees, I demanded higher pay when I was hired 6-ish years ago. I got the number I needed then, but it's been steady 2-3.5% raises since then. So now I feel I'm behind the market.

Also, while we read about the fantastic accomodations at Google and forward thinking places like Fog Creek Software, at EMC you have to live with the bottom of the barrel trash for equipment. They won't buy new monitors, so you're stuck using 10 year old 19" CRTs that are totally washed out and more worthy of the trash. Flat panel monitors exist in some places, as long as you're on a "most favored" product, but if not, you get the dregs that have been sitting in a warehouse since the post bubble layoffs.

They have an ESPP of course, but holding EMC shares is a recipe for disappointment and failure. Their stock has been sitting at the same spot for 5 years, execpt for the short VMware bubble last fall.
And when you do get laid off, they're pretty brutal about it. While companies like HP will notify you, and then give you time to look for positions inside the company, or look for a job elsewhere, EMC comes and notifies you, and then stands and watches while you clean out your cube that second. Then you're walked to the door, and sent off with nothing but a handshake.

Advice to Senior Management

Treat people like humans. Show a little loyalty, and it will be paid back more than in-kind.