I worked for IBM for 10 years and recently let go due to a massive 'reorg' effort. Which really translates into...IBM needs to meet the quarterly budget forecast.
Working from home for IBM really means: "You will work 24x7!"
You are basically expected to be 'on call' and join any conference call that's required to troubleshoot and/or support problem resolution every day, and any hour of the day. During major project deployments, holidays are ignored and vacations must be rescheduled or postponed when project schedules change. You don't get paid any 'extra' or over-time for the 24x7 obligation. I joined the company through an outsource from previous employer, and my pay stayed the same during the transfer, even though my actual NEW position did not match the same skill set. There have been NO pay raises in the past 6 yrs, and bonus' are nonexistent at the Project Management level. When a project ends, you don't have any say in your assignment - whether or not you are good match for the project background. They just move people around without regard to matching performance and skills to the particular position. Management is totally disconnected from understanding individual performance, achievements and career counseling. Management is so severely disconnected from actual employee performance, I'm not even sure it's recoverable. It would take a significant amount of focus and resources to make improvements in the area of Human Resources. They have layoffs every year and you never know when your number is up. The basis for layoff is a checklist,. Employees who have poor skills, or no skills are retained because they have a required certification - PMI for example. They do this so they can tell clients: "All of our PM's are PMI certified..." Yet - they will NOT pay for ANY external training to advance employee skills!
