Is IBM a good company to work for as a Software Designer?

Software Designer professionals working at IBM have rated their employer with 3.6 out of 5 stars in 70 Glassdoor reviews. This is a lower than average score with the overall rating of IBM employees being 3.9 out of 5 stars. Search open Software Designer Jobs at IBM now and start preparing for your job interview by browsing frequently asked Software Designer interview questions at IBM .

Does IBM pay Software Designer employees well?

Software Designer professionals rate their compensation and benefits at IBM with 4.1 out of 5 stars based on 70 anonymously submitted employee reviews. This is 13% better than the company average rating for salary and benefits. Find out more about Software Designer salaries at IBM.

How happy are Software Designer professionals working at IBM?

56% of Software Designer employees at IBM would recommend their employer to a friend. This rating has decreased by 2% in the past 12 months. Software Designer professionals have also rated IBM with a 3.4 rating for work-life-balance, 3.0 rating for diversity and inclusion, 2.7 rating for culture and values and 3.2 rating for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at IBM?

Software Engineer (4359) , Applications Developer (2914) , Software Developer (2428) , Project Manager (2325) , Senior Software Engineer (2043) , Consultant (1847) , Senior Consultant (1847) , IT Specialist (1111) , Application Developer (1110) , Associate Systems Engineer (1034) , Business Analyst (1027) , Systems Engineer (871) , Manager (851) , Managing Consultant (849) , Intern (826)

What are the pros of working at IBM according to real employee reviews?

"Good work life balance and good to be able to work from home although that’s often at the discretion of your manager" ((in 11028 reviews)); "The people are great and the Extreme Blue program was excellent for learning principles of product design." ((in 5026 reviews)); "Flexible timings and work from home option(i gotta laptop thats why i enjoy this privilege)" ((in 4377 reviews)); "1. Extremely good work culture 2. Packages are good 3. Direct contact to senior level employees" ((in 3411 reviews)); "Good benefits; IBM prides itself on being a leader in Healthcare Benefits and incentives for healthy living." ((in 3322 reviews))

What are the cons of working at IBM according to real employee reviews?

"Low salary and the increment was less than 2% even top performer unless you got band promotion" ((in 5426 reviews)); "• Hard to get a promotion unless you have a good manager that is respected and fights for you" ((in 2198 reviews)); "The pay is low and not much hope it will get better even through hard work and delivering results" ((in 2015 reviews)); "No Salary hike.No On site opportunity.Very few are lucky getting visas and traveled to on" ((in 1738 reviews)); "Poor Leadership; Weak Execution; Benefits to employees are getting worse; Money spent on dividends instead of R&D." ((in 626 reviews))

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IBM Software Designer reviews

3.6

56% would recommend to a friend

(70 total reviews)

Arvind Krishna

43% approve of CEO

46% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.1

Compensation and benefits

3.4

Work/Life balance

3.2

Career opportunities

3.0

Diversity & inclusion

2.7

Culture & values

2.6

Senior management

Software Designer employees have rated IBM with 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 70 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Designer professionals have a good working experience there. IBM is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Designer professionals compared to other employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

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Parent or family caregiver

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Reviews by job title

70 reviews

1.0

Jan 3, 2026

Terrible

Designer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Used to be good but it's been getting consistently worse

Cons

Average salary and benefits, terrible culture (or lack thereof) Public sector level of bureaucracy

2.0

Nov 11, 2025

Tough environment for Software Organization

Designer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Old design leadership cared a lot about the health of the team and organization, doing good design work. Work life balance.

Cons

Constant reorgs and instability within the Software organization. New leadership does not have a strong appetite or understanding of design's role, which resulted in heavy layoffs of seasoned designers with subject matter expertise in complex domains. Most product and engineering decisions are top-down at the extreme executive level, and lack of clear goals or KPIs make it difficult for teams to operate independently toward goals rather than "executive directives". Lack of career growth.

5.0

Oct 26, 2025

Amazing

Designer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- amazing work life balance and culture!

Cons

- Nothing bad to say at all

Viewing 4 - 6 of 70 Reviews

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IBM Software Designer reviews

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