I joined IBM in a Business Unit called GTS. Let me keep facts and figures straight.
I was not given a window to negotiate and HR straight away gave me my CTC, given the brand value, I accepted it.
Training was spot on, and it had impacted my skills.
Allocation to the project and transition was smooth.
Now my day one, just a day after completion of training, I was thrown into the jungle. Felt like a chicken being set sail on a boat in the big blue ocean. However, I had very supportive seniors and i made it somehow. I was one of the few lucky people whose reporting manager was the People Manager. People Manager is a big shot in IBM, having a plethora of powers in hand. Was lucky that mine was good and supportive. The company has a lot of policies and they are doing a good job in maintaining that.
Work culture was good and an account where your leadership is good, it will make you feel in a comfort zone.
Work life balance - Good till 2018. Then came the change in policy of working hours. It increased to 10 hour shift and work from home becoming scarce.
Pay:
IBM is not a pay master. I will keep the post anonymous, hence I wont violate any policies. IBM has career levels called Bands. My journey in GTS
2012 - Band 3 - 2.8lpa
2013 - Band 3 - 2.96lpa - 6% hike
2014 - Band 4 - 3.75 lpa - 27% Band hike
2015 - Band 4 - 3.76 lpa - 3% annual hike though I aced it in Performance metrics
2016 - Band 5 - 4.6lpa - 22% Band hike
2017 - Band 5 - No hikes
2018 - Band 5 - 4.75 lpa - 3% annual hike
This is the time I got promoted to SME, leading a team in 6years.
2019 - Band 6 - 6.5 lpa - 36% hike and I got promoted to a people manager role after 7 years. The workload became tenfold, so the reviewers who say that People Managers are the worst thing in IBM, I hate to admit it but that is true. Being a people manager, I had seen first hand how people managers or ratyer my colleagues work here. Shrinkage and attrition are my KPI, if I miss utilization by 1% because of a sick leave, I would not get any bonus. If people manager is a human, he does not care about his kpi but that is rarely the case. Then once you become a part of that puddle, you have to get into politics. And that is what made me leave as at the end of the day I was not able to face myself in the mirror.
At this stage, small decisions made great talent go away.
So as you progress through the career ladder, priorities change.
2019 - left IBM as a Deputy Manager after 7 and a half years with peanuts in hands.
Other things:
Cafeteria - Prices of food are exorbitant. A 50ml cup of tea is 10Rs. A sandwich is 40Rs. So only water and tissue paper is free in IBM.
Gym - Available but no time.
Public Holidays - Lucky people will stay at home, unlucky people have to manage alone working overtime.
Onsite opportunity - Nah
Sick Leaves - Unlimited, but IBM doctors only approve if document has big name like Fortis or Appolo
12 days can be carried forward out of 22 annual leaves.
Shift allowance - Different in different BU
Pay - Last working day of the month.
Transport - 7PM to 7AM (diversity employees get 2 way and medical cabs)
Cons:
Micromanagement
Internal Politics
Scuffle between managers
Meagre pay
Little work life balance
Inevitable changes in management and hence policies
Food prices of a star hotel
Favorism
Sorry for keeping it long, but this is the truth.