Dell a secure employer?

[beowulf77]

Originally Posted by beowulf77

Well I got a very, very competitive offer. The group I interviewed with was small but friendly. I get a sense, from searching the web, that most of the complaints about the Dell culture are from people that are (or were) in the sales dept (quotas, cyclical firings etc). My offer is for a software development position.

Anyone know the typical hours? I am not interested in working 60 hrs a week, unless it is short term to get something out the door.

I also was told there is a lot of bastardly behavior among coworkers. Is that related to the 'performance' bonus and people trying to get a bigger slice of the pie at your expense?

Just to clarify. I started the thread pre-interview to make sure I wasn't wasting my time even talking to them. I just wanted to update you all that are giving me feedback re: Dell that I got an offer and it's GO/NO-GO time. Thanks again for your help.

[jwb123]

I have heard all the stories about the long long hours one puts in there - but we haven't seen it. I would say 50 hrs a week is normal - not much more than that. All groups are different I guess... the problem my husband has is not the hard work, he loves that - it's the lack of passion.. especially coming from a place like Microsoft.

[Mike78613]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I have heard all the stories about the long long hours one puts in there - but we haven't seen it. I would say 50 hrs a week is normal - not much more than that. All groups are different I guess... the problem my husband has is not the hard work, he loves that - it's the lack of passion.. especially coming from a place like Microsoft.

Dude! Your Getting a DELL!

[dreamer29]

Think IBM is any better? I work there until may when they decided to reduce head count by a big permanent layoff. Now I am looking to leave NJ to get to Texas, but need that job first. Sorry, can't trust any big company these days. Good bet, government job is more secure along with companies that hold a government contract. Especially, for IT. Nobody is going to last 30 years any more, those days are gone!!!

[austin_or_sd]

Originally Posted by beowulf77

Just to clarify. I started the thread pre-interview to make sure I wasn't wasting my time even talking to them. I just wanted to update you all that are giving me feedback re: Dell that I got an offer and it's GO/NO-GO time. Thanks again for your help.

I went through the same struggle half year ago. After half year at Dell, I think I made a right decision.

The pros:

1. Up-to-date technology. For a techie like me, I like it.If things do not work well at Dell, you can also find job easily elsewhere with the experience at Dell.
2. An environment is full of learning opportunities. Training is easily available.
3. The hours can be intensive some time. But most of time, it is not bad, especially we have a follow the sun support model.
4. The pay is competitive in Austin, but lower than CA where I used to work. Benefits are decent.

The cons:

1. Too large an organization. Too complicated processes. I got lost pretty bad in the begining.
2. Austin is a decent place to live but not up to the hype. The employment opportunities are not as aboundant as I used to have in CA.
3. The relationship between co-workers are not as warm as I would like. I guess partly because of competive nature for bonus you refered before and partly because of the large organization.

I would say if you think the pay is very competitive and you can tolerate the Texas heat, take it. While Dell is laying off, you are hired, which indicates you must have some unique skills. With the skills and if you don't perform badly, you will survive a few rounds of layoffs.

Good luck!

[Scott345252]

They certainly abuse the contract system and if you are unfortunate to work for them under contract, you are treated as a second rate employee. It can get ridiculous ...because you are not technically a Dell employee, you can not attend and deliver input at department meetings, can not participate in department functions (outings or whatever), there are decent physical training facilities but contract workers have to pay for thier use ...ect. Oh yes, no healthcare or sick days. Spherion's healthcare package is about like Wal-Mart's, utterly worthless. Thier attitude is as such: You are privilaged to work for Dell, Dell does not value you as much as you should value Dell ...there are to many waiting in line for you to quit or get layed off for you to have an equitable hand in the employee-employer contract. They will, however, work your ass off durring the Holidays. Holiday Pay is a Dell employee benifit and not an entitlement of a spherion contract worker, so obvoiusly Dell profits off of that arrangement. If you call in sick and lose a days pay, an idiot lead may think that you are trying to get a "free" day off.

Working contract for spherion is about as close to indentured servitude as a worker in a free labor market can come these days. These scumbags operate under the understanding that there are plenty of desperate people out there looking for work and can replace you at the drop of a hat. They treat people that way.

I walked out on them over a year ago over a breach of employment agreement. When I called them to get information for online W-2 processing, a year later, they (unnecessarily) demanded that I come up to thier office and submit a change of address request form. I don't even work for these scumbags any more, and changing addresses is part of the online registration process. When I asked the obvious "why?", I got the authoritarian "because you have to" from the snarky little Nazi-Hooker on the other end of the line, an attitude one has to tolerate alot from lower end spherion administrators as a contract worker. Well ..."I don't have to do that and 'because you have to' is not an answer.." ..she started screaming. I had to, over her yelling, demand for her manager three times ...who took care of me in 3 minutes.

My opinion, contract labor is a bumb deal to begin with but the Dell-Spherion relationship stands out as an extraordinary reason why. Karl Marx and Vladamir Lenin never sounded more appealing after the sorry experience with Spherion and Dell, seeing how they treated people less than contracting professionals and alot more like expendable commodities. From what I hear, that does not improve much if one actually gets hired on as a "Dell Employee."