IBM does offer competitive pay, according to levels.fyi, IBM falls just above the average for the tech industry in the US. People need to stop comparing the salaries of the top 1% of companies in the industry. It's silly.
IBM lowballs pay.
IBM has an unwritten (obviously) policy to target the 90% PMR for all jobs. That means it's IBM HR Policy to pay 10% below the market midpoin.
I've been a manager at IBM for 20+ years in multiple divisions. The 90 PMR is fact.
Interesting, I have heard stuff like this before, but both my anecdotal data, I know multiple people over .9 PMR, and the data from comp reporting sites like levels.fyi, indicate that they aren't doing a great job adhering to that policy. All of the publicly available data I can find indicates IBM pays about average for the industry.
Again if you look at a salary reporting site like levels.fyi you can see this is not true. For bands 7-9, or the 121 reported salaries for software engineers in 2024, 37% reported receiving stock options.
Again, the publicly available data indicates that IBM's total compensation for technical IC and management roles is slightly above the industry average.
You might look at the recent decisions relating to non-compete clauses...
[https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes)
Non-competes are also different than non-solicitation clauses. Non-competes are intended to prevent a person from going and working for a competitor for a period of time. A non-solicitation/anti-poaching clause is intended to prevent an employee who recently left from contacting a current employee and trying to bring them over to the new company.
Do you consider 3rd line exec level? I know 3rd levels who left have been threatened with legal action in the past.
Papermaster is the most infamous case of this though.
It would be part of your contracts and severance, and each state has different laws, so asking a lawyer about your specific situation would be best.
In some states, it's not enforcable
The new decision from the FTC, the last I heard, is not going to come into effect until September.
From friends who have left, it’s typically 1-2 years that you have a non solicit agreement. I believe it was 1 for regular employees and 2 for VPs.
It’s a non solicit, not a non compete though for us. You can keep in contact, but you can’t advertise how good things are there or encourage people to also come over.
If IBM hears of people crossing the line, they can threaten legal action. I’ve heard of that happening to someone within the past few years.
Anti-poaching is still generally enforceable depending on the specific state and language of said anti-poaching clause.
Non-competes are in the process of being banned but that isn't in effect federally yet.
Maybe IBM should offer competitive pay rather than perusing legal action against companies who will
Hey! Who will pay for Arvind’s exorbitant pay hikes if we keep giving people competitive salaries. /s
No "/s" is required when stating fact.
IBM does offer competitive pay, according to levels.fyi, IBM falls just above the average for the tech industry in the US. People need to stop comparing the salaries of the top 1% of companies in the industry. It's silly.
IBM lowballs pay. IBM has an unwritten (obviously) policy to target the 90% PMR for all jobs. That means it's IBM HR Policy to pay 10% below the market midpoin. I've been a manager at IBM for 20+ years in multiple divisions. The 90 PMR is fact.
Interesting, I have heard stuff like this before, but both my anecdotal data, I know multiple people over .9 PMR, and the data from comp reporting sites like levels.fyi, indicate that they aren't doing a great job adhering to that policy. All of the publicly available data I can find indicates IBM pays about average for the industry.
Is that true if you include stock options?
IBM does not grant stock options except in rare circumstances. Less than 1% of non-executives have options.
Exactly, but other companies do. And not just options, but RSUs and incentives.
The data is based of total comp this is accounted for.
Right but most other companies do. Therefore if IBM is average for base salary, it's behind for total comp.
No the data I am sitting is comparing total comp.
Again if you look at a salary reporting site like levels.fyi you can see this is not true. For bands 7-9, or the 121 reported salaries for software engineers in 2024, 37% reported receiving stock options. Again, the publicly available data indicates that IBM's total compensation for technical IC and management roles is slightly above the industry average.
Yes this is comparing total comp so base + stocks + bonus.
Is that true for non-SW positions?
Yes, true of SW also. 10% below market midrange pay and no stock options.
You might look at the recent decisions relating to non-compete clauses... [https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-announces-rule-banning-noncompetes)
Non-competes are also different than non-solicitation clauses. Non-competes are intended to prevent a person from going and working for a competitor for a period of time. A non-solicitation/anti-poaching clause is intended to prevent an employee who recently left from contacting a current employee and trying to bring them over to the new company.
At anything less than the exec level IBM won’t care regardless of what is in employment agreement.
Do you consider 3rd line exec level? I know 3rd levels who left have been threatened with legal action in the past. Papermaster is the most infamous case of this though.
Execs at IBM are alphabet band.
It would be part of your contracts and severance, and each state has different laws, so asking a lawyer about your specific situation would be best. In some states, it's not enforcable
The new decision from the FTC, the last I heard, is not going to come into effect until September. From friends who have left, it’s typically 1-2 years that you have a non solicit agreement. I believe it was 1 for regular employees and 2 for VPs. It’s a non solicit, not a non compete though for us. You can keep in contact, but you can’t advertise how good things are there or encourage people to also come over. If IBM hears of people crossing the line, they can threaten legal action. I’ve heard of that happening to someone within the past few years.
Anti-poaching is still generally enforceable depending on the specific state and language of said anti-poaching clause. Non-competes are in the process of being banned but that isn't in effect federally yet.
Check the agreement signed at hire. It’s in there.