IBM Reviews in Portland, OR Area

Pros

Offers flexible working hours and work from home facility
Opportunity to work with variety of projects
Access to all IBM products
Great training courses

Cons

Too many processes make even simplest of things hard to get through
Not a great pay master yet better than many

Advice to Senior Management

Management should try and promote more technical leadership. There are many unlucky folks who have the passion but their voices do not reach out to the right place

Pros

Good job oppurtunities. IBM is a good place to work if you are good with politics.

Cons

Its one big marketing ploy. Its like working for the government. You have people more concerned with collecting a pay check than doing a good job. And most of the senior management really doesnt know what they are doing. Arbitrary rules, roadblocks and red tape.

Advice to Senior Management

Be aware of the people on your team. Recognize performance and initiative. be open and communicate with your employees.

Pros

The learning opportunities are endless

Cons

Sometimes difficult to find information when project is done at more than one site

Advice to Senior Management

During Resource Action the practice of not bumping among groups would be good if amended.

Those who are being sponsored with less experience are being kept over those who are American citizens or with green cards with more experience.

Obama suggesting Americans who are educated will give them job opportunities won't work if jobs are still being given to those who need sponsorship with less experience simply because their salary may be less. Long run it will hurt the economy, and hurt the company as well as other companies in the US. Before assuming Americans won't work for a lower salary it would be good if they were at least offered that option.

Also cutbacks were done in small sizes to avoid giving notice required by law. It affects the company image.

Pros

Huge opportunities to try a wide variety of tasks and technology

Cons

Like working for government or a big union

Advice to Senior Management

Start recognizing those who go above and beyond. If a developer needs tools/technology to be effective/work efficiently there should be no resistance to providing these.

Pros

Other IBM employees--smart, creative, inspiring people.

Cons

Most upper mid-management not adapting to new culture and economy, unable to rethink & seize opportunity to make strategic changes that are equal in magnitude to the resource/team changes. Continued US upper management disregard of other country innovations and best practices.

Advice to Senior Management

Adapt & be surgically strategic around where you can make a difference in place of trying to manage all legacy programs after resource and budget restrictions.

Pros

- Great technical resources available
- Opportunity to learn new skills (assuming you get the time)
- Ability to work from home
- Some great people / colleagues

Cons

- Upper management does not care about anything but profits
- Constant restructuring putting you in places you don't want to be. If you like your current role, don't get used to it, because you'll eventually be forced in to another role you don't really want
- After almost 4 years of employment, I received no raises even though I was a top performer each year
- In constant fear of layoffs. I lost many good friends over the span of numerous resource actions. Some of these people were excellent and highly technically skilled, however they didn't play the politics game as well as the people who were kept.
- IBM cares more about the process than the people

Advice to Senior Management

Focus a little less on profits and a lot more on the people who make you those profits. My last year at IBM was awful. Between fear of layoffs and getting pushed in to a role I didn't want to be in, I decided to quit. Its really unfortunate because I was proud to say I worked at IBM and there was so much potential there. I think management needs to realize that they are alienating the people who keep their customers happy.

Pros

Global recognition
Work with colleagues your age (I was early 20's at the time)
Learn a very niche skill in a short span of time
Travel a lot, earn miles, food stipend

Cons

Steep learning curve even if you come from a tech background
Get lost in the organization. Feels too big at times, simply navigating the intranet showed how deep big blue really is.
Flying weekly isn't for everyone

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize and develop a more structured learning program for gen Y employees
Felt as if bootcamps did not really prepare me for true on the job development
Don't sell the position as a consulting position but really be a J2EE position

Pros

A solid, established company, a leader in its industry. Large enough company to offer many different career options.

Cons

Huge, bueauracratic, and very political at times.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't be afraid to cut some of the "lifetimers", even if they are execs, who are just dead weight, and give more opportunity to those who really have value to offer.

Pros

They gave me an oppertunity early in my career when i was really new in the IT world. I had a friend that worked there and they gave me a chance to learn my craft with out any real experince. They also paid me more than i was work at the time, but i never got a raise after my first offer save wage for 4 years with no review.

Cons

They don't have benefits for everyone that works there. No raise after 4 years worth of work and i had mastered my role by then and was deserving of at least a pat on the back but i got nothing and dumb manager that didn't listen to anything or anyone.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees even if you can't do anything about it.

Pros

Absolutely brilliant scientists and architects. World-class technology in almost every field. Broad range of options to move around and learn different facets of the business. Sensitivity to working parents who also have lifestyle priorities.

Large patent portfolio with an aggressive IP licensing, partnership and alliance strategy that spans all aspects of the business...from hardware to software to services.

Innate ability to find profitable markets in emerging countries, besides those which are well known, e.g. Brazil, Russia, India and China. The company as a whole is extremely well-versed in fielding a global workforce to meet the demands in many of these countries.

Cons

Slow decisionmaking cycles, hampered by internal processes. Plethora of employees that add little value, clog the company's arteries and slow the ability to make fast decisions. This can result in IBM lagging behind smaller, faster, lighter competitors in terms of first-to-market offerings, however the net result may not be fatal. IBM's client base relies on the company for strategic guidance and trusts the brand, reputation and service of the company. Moving fast, while important in technology and critical for startups, does not carry the same significance at IBM's level. As a result, IBM may initially take a fast-follower approach or make up lost ground through acquisitions.

Advice to Senior Management

Drive to decision checkpoints that force faster response times.