Ingram Micro Employee Review

Former Employee – worked at Ingram Micro

Pros – - Ingram is #1 in the world and will be in business a long time (stability)
- If you perform well, and you navigate your career carefully (stay away from "special projects"), you can succeed there for a long time
- You can get overall general management experience very early in your career compared to other places.
- Strong promote-from-within culture - many companies just poach talent outside

Cons – - Perpetually understaffed due to low margin model of distribution (ie a lot of work for current employees)
- Low starting salaries and weak entry-level recruitment = spotty talent at the lowest levels. The best rise up, but often the "best" are only okay compared to other companies
- Tremendous travel at director and above level, since staffing levels are low
- Economic model makes new investment and initiatives tough. Ingram does well versus other big distributors, but struggles in new initiatives compared to specialty distributors.

Advice to Senior Management – Some of what you are doing is very good - the business unit model improves accountability and flexibility. But, pay more attention to quality hires at the entry level, since Ingram employees tend to stay.