IBM – “Under Sam's oversight, "respect for the individual," a former core IBM value, has become a thing of the past.”

Pros

IBM has a great deal of bright, talented, dedicated, hard-working people -- and there's a lot to learn at a company of this size. I used to be able to also say there are many opportunities in a company of this size, since if you didn't like your first job, you could always apply for a position in another area / division. Today, however, with nearly quarterly downsizings / job outsourcings going on, when you do look for a new job within IBM you're often competing with hundreds to thousands of others who were just advised they're on the way out the door and have only 30 days to find a new job in IBM. As a result, over the past 8 years or so, mobility within the company has been very limited. -- as has upward mobility due to IBM's laser focus on reducing SG&A (sales, general and administrative = headcount) expenses quarter to quarter.

Cons

Employee morale is poor, and workloads are unreasonable (with many working 60+ hours per week in salaried positions) due to IBM's laying off so many American workers in 2009 (in spite of reporting record earnings for 2008). IBM's performance appraisal and rating system, called the Personal Business Commitments (PBCs) system, is a flawed system which forces managers (I know, I was a manager myself for 10 years) to "skew" the ratings to match a normal, "bell shaped" curve distribution. For all but the few fortunate workers who are able to secure a top rating, the system is demoralizing, and is seen as an unfair way of keeping pay increases and bonuses low.

Advice to Senior Management

Please stop laying off tens of thousands of Americans and moving their jobs overseas while buddying up to President Obama and trying to convince him that IBM is a key American asset. If you really want to do something good for America, then stop laying off Americans just so you can hire three times as many employees overseas at less cost in the name of fattening your own wallets. Foreign workers do not pay American taxes, and they are not putting their investments in American banks. Your actions may prop up IBM's stock price in the short term, yet in the end they simply speed up America's race to the bottom. Your personal wealth may make you immune from the pain that a failing American economy is causing average Americans, however, you do live in America, you do have families in America, and you should show some type of loyalty to the American way of life. If America goes totally in the toilet, then you'll end up having to move the IBM HQ (and your families) overseas -- so please, get with the program and stop propping up the stock price on the shoulders of thousands of laid off American (IBM) workers.