Pros
The benefit packages that IBM provides are very good. 401k matching at 50% of the first 6%, and an automatic 2% contribution of your base pay into the plan whether you participate or not...IBM's way of eliminating a pension plan.
Cons
IBM doesn't care about their employee's welfare, and they will work you until you drop. The only thing that really matters is your "utilization rate"...the higher the better...for IBM! High utilization rates translates to more billable hours...but the average employee will never see a dime of that revenue...and your rate had better be north of 100%, or it will negatively impact your annual performance review. Using any PTO also has a negative impact on your utilization rate since IBM is paying you, but cannot bill a client for your PTO. So the only way to use PTO without a negative impact on your utilization is to essentially work a MINIMUM amount of unpaid overtime equal to the amount of PTO...and that's just to keep your utilization around 100%. But true to the corporate greed model, there is ALWAYS a demand for utilization rates to be 108% or better...so you have to work MORE UNPAID OVERTIME than the amount of PTO used to have any chance at all of meeting the utilization targets. Also, they manufacture these bogus "Quality and Innovation Summits", which is basically forced unpaid overtime on a weekend...and these QIS weekends ALWAYS seem to fall during a month where there is a Paid Holiday!!! You'll get the Holiday off...with pay...but IBM will get their 8+ hours back!!! And God forbid you come down off of an assignment in the January/February timeframe and hit the bench...IBM has their annual purge every February...like clockwork for the past 10 years...and if you're on the bench, there's a very good chance that you'll be out of a job in February. My advice would be to STAY AWAY! This once great company is a shell of its former self, and Thomas J. Watson has to be turning in his grave!!!
