IT companies have grown so much in recent years. It is the most demanding field, with millions of people working regularly. IT field is always known for its ever-demanding job offers and lots of scope for career development. One such company which is very famous and has been one of the frontrunners of IT department is IBM. Is it a good company to work for? How is the job security and scope for career growth if you work at IBM? We will look at all these in this article.
About IBM
International Business Machines, which is abbreviated as IBM, was founded in 1911, with currently spread across 170 countries. The headquarters is situated in New York. IBM is best known for its supercomputers, which are state of the art and are the most capable human-made AI currently. IBM is also known for its IT services, such as processors and electronic data processing machines, which many companies used back then and still use currently. IBM also demonstrated before everyone the features of Artificial Intelligence, and how it can learn based on actions. IBM majorly focuses on IT product outsourcing, which falls under the main categories of cybersecurity, Internet Of Things, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
IBM also designs hardware, in form of microprocessors, which are even used inside modern gaming consoles and various devices. IBM also is known for its inventions in the field of IT. They are
- Automated Teller Machine (ATM): IBM invented the ATM, which everyone nowadays uses to withdraw money from, or perform card transactions.
- Dynamic Random-Access Memory
- Virtual machine
- The Universal product code, also known as bar code
And many more, in the field of IT. According to reports, in 2016, IBM had its offices spread across 174 countries. IBM has one of the largest workforces in the world. The reason for IBM’s success dates to its beginnings. During the age of the great depression, and the time after the period, IBM didn’t face major failures. It was one of the most successful companies to emerge out of the great depression without failing to do it, due to its government contracts. This makes the company prepared for any worse situations, and its ability to handle the work and workforce. IBM family has always been one of the major advantages in the company, owing to its care for the employees and worldwide appeal, with people from various cultures working together.
Is IBM a good company to work for?
Now that we have talked about IBM as a company, its growth, inventions, and where it stands currently, let’s look at if IBM is a good company to work for. This question can be answered using various factors.
- Innovation: The first and foremost thing that appeals to IBM is innovation. IBM is not only known for being the frontrunner in the field of IT but also for taking care of its employees. Throughout 1930-1940, IBM introduced many employee benefitting features, such as group life insurance, training for disabled people, paid holidays, training for women, and many more. Hence, this is a good reason to choose IBM as a career choice, as there is more scope for innovation in making an employee’s life better.
- Recognition: In a company as big as IBM, it is usually the case of an employee not being recognized, owing to the huge number of workforces. But in IBM, there are lots of employee recognition programs. It has divided these recognition programs into different fields of the company, such as human resources, finance, and IT, which gives an employee more scope of being recognized. In addition to this, IBM also selects 500 top employees every year and sends them abroad to perform humanitarian works.
- Interns: If you are looking for internships, then IBM is one of the best places to perform. Along with its brand name, IBM, through the program called Extreme Blue, pits interns against each other, and partners them with leading companies, to devise a high-end technology, that can be presented to the CEO at the end of the internship.
- Brand name: It need not be stated that IBM is known far and wide, as it is spread across almost 174 countries. The brand name makes the employee stand out from the rest, as it is great to work in a company as big as IBM
- Designations: IBM is also known for having unique designations to top-performing employees, such as Distinguished designers, Distinguished engineers, etc. This also motivates an employee to work harder and more efficiently
- Culture: Since IBM is spread across several countries, its workforce consists of people from various cultures. This creates a culturally diverse workforce and can create interesting partnerships for the company as well as employees.
- Perks: IBM also rewards its employees with perks, based on their performance. Top employees also receive a laptop periodically to aid them in work, and in 2015, IBM introduced Mac as an OS choice. This choice makes an employee doing what he or she is comfortable with, and in turn, creates a positive workforce.
Apart from this, IBM is also known for its liberal work environment. In the past, IBM had a dress code, but over the years, it changed, and it got more liberal. Even in the work time, employees are not required to follow or adhere to a strict schedule. The employee is required to work for 9 hours, but the start and end time, once an employee reaches a significant level, is decided by them. IBM is also known for its famous work from home and work from anywhere options to enable its employees to work in their comfort.
Job security is one of the major things that one should consider, along with salary. In the US, the salary varies from $30000 to $169405 yearly. The average salary is among the highest for any company and the added fact is that there is increased scope for development and growth within the company for an employee, as IBM has work opportunities in various fields such as finance, IT, human resources, etc. As far as job security goes, IT companies all face a steady increase during a certain period, and a sudden decrease in the workforce as the market varies significantly. But, IBM has been reviewed to have decent job security overall. It is a very good opportunity to work at a company such as IBM, and there is great scope for constant growth.
