What's the company culture at EDS?

Every business has it's own style. What is the office environment and culture like at EDS?

Are people dressed in business casual, jeans and t-shirts, or full-on suits? Do folks get together for Friday happy hours and friendly get-togethers?

What is a typical day in the life of an employee at EDS?

from what I've heard, it is a very militaristic, strict chain-of-command, intense place. Not for laid-back people at all, or a casual atmosphere.

In some offices they do have business casual dress and usually at least once a week they have a dress down day to celebrate the winning of a new contract. It is not militaristic, but the work load is fairly intense so there is not a lot of time for socializing. They do try to have some fun by celebrating birthdays or having potluck lunches.

Host said: Every business has it's own style. What is the office environment and culture like at EDS?

Are people dressed in business casual, jeans and t-shirts, or full-on suits? Do folks get together for Friday happy hours and friendly get-togethers?

What is a typical day in the life of an employee at EDS?

Well it is basic business casual like say slacks and sandals with a printed top. nothin gover the top. now i work in des moines iowa eds and we have a great set of people. everyone is friendly and outgoing. i like working for eds it is very laid back company and as long as you do you job right there is no issues as any other job in america

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is! There is a new position posted with EDS in Kansas as a General Support Supervisor. Just wanted to let all job hunters know this is a BRAND NEW position. You can expect to do more than what the job description says. Only apply if you are wanting your life to be nothing but EDS. Once employed with them you need to have your job as your number one priority or you will never make it. That means if you have to work 75 hours a week to get your job done, then you better be prepared to do so. Also, once you are in management you had better plan on doing as management says even if it goes against your values or you will never make it. You will be required to do what is "best" for the company at any cost. If this sounds like the type of work environment you are looking for, go for it! And best of luck. Hope you have better luck than those who came before you.

EDS is a "good-ole-boys" type of company. You get positions within the company based on who you know, not what you know. The company professes to have an open door policy in which you are free to talk to any manager at any level without recrimination. This looks great on paper, but in actuality I know of two individuals who tried the open door policy and were then let go from the company a few weeks later due to "workforce reduction". I worked with EDS for two long, stressful years.

Yea I was told the same thing about the OPEN DOOR Policy. I almost laughed. NO ONE uses this because what it really means if you go over you boss's head they will open the door and let your butt out!! I was also speaking to my new co-workers yesterday at lunch about this be prepared to work some serious hours!!

I've been at EDS for almost 9 years. I think the few negative comments listed here are very uncharacteristic of the way most "EDSers" feel. A huge portion of the population has 10-20 years of service. Apparently it is a mutually beneficial relationship for many.
A few clarifications... 1) All EDS offices worldwide (offices in over 80 countries) are business casual. The only exception is if the employee resides at a client site and the client has a more formal dress code. We dress to our clients' standards. 2) I have never, not once, seen any relation to someone utilizing the Open Door policy and their untimely exit from the company. To the contrary, I've seen where this policy has led to the removal of poor managers. 3) EDS is not "militaristic". However, we have processes in place that serve to make us efficient. While this makes it a structured environment, I wouldn't want to work for another global, $20B company with 120,000 employees which didn't have structure.
Best company in the world? No. Good place to work? Yes.

I´ve been working in EDS for last 8 years.
Infortunatly EDS it´s not a equal rights company, at least in Portugal the co-workers are mean to each other (if they can), they underestimate your capabilities, no money available for learning, and it´s hard to achieve recognition or a prise for your effort.
I have the same opinion as Jay in Irving, related to dress code.
EDS it´s a good company to work if you play by the rules, some co-works have better earnings than you just because they hang around with the right persons, at least at 18th each month the money is in your banks account.
I am trying to transfer my self to Uk´s EDS, feel free to help with your kwoledge/experience.

kind regards

My account culture was depressed, defeated, soul-less and dead. Dysfunction does not even scratch the surface of what I experienced. Avoid at all costs.

Jay ... you're as blind as a bat. I've known many good people who were forced ranked and dropped. You've only been with the company 9 years? Where have you been? Emptying trash cans, making coffee, schmoozing?

There are three types of people in the world:
1. Those who knowingly lie and promulgate deception.
2. Those who are incredibly naive and truly believe the lies that they blindly spew.
3. Those who know the truth and go through ethical hell.

God, you must either work at home or work in a cubicle in an empty building.

Poor managers are removed for not meeting revenue goals.
Good performers are removed to help meet those goals.

Yes true deadwood should be removed ... both management and subordinate, but that is not real life.

"expected distributions" on PMP bell curves means that it is totally impossible to have a staff of superior performers (period!!!) What do you think it feels like to have a staff of excellent performers that the customer writes MANY accolades about - who have NO input to sales or revenue - who work on a COST PLUS basis - and having to mark any of them below meeting expectations, because senior management demands that "expected results" are achieved? YOU ARE BLIND!!!

Survival Rules:
1. Get placed on an accout with lots of idiots - if one can be found - you will shine.
2. Retain your worst workers, if any are left, so you can sacrifice them later.
3. Hire stupid workers, so you can sacrifice them later.
4. Remember, its not what you do for the company that's important - its looking better than the other people on your team.

"Survival Rules:
1. Get placed on an accout with lots of idiots - if one can be found - you will shine.
2. Retain your worst workers, if any are left, so you can sacrifice them later.
3. Hire stupid workers, so you can sacrifice them later.
4. Remember, its not what you do for the company that's important - its looking better than the other people on your team"

This explains why the account that I was on seemed to operate more like Junior High school than a professional,modern and legitimate business-it was petty and decisions ALWAYS bordered on unethical and sleazy. And when they felt the pressure of their own bad decisions they resorted to "Clinton-esque" arguing over language ("that depends on the contract' meaning of 'is'....) I have never been so blatantly lied to by an idiotic and arrogant 'leadership' and expected to swallow what they said when it was known by everyone that they were lying to us-and this went up the chain as well-to regional management. Good corporate foot-soldiers who seem to have no soul----I particulary loved the "born-agains" who were neck-deep in this behavior.
I felt the EDS 'leaders' that I knew were pathetic and damaged people(seemed to be seeking the elusive approval of a Daddy-figure that they never had growing up) -and the orders from Plano gave them some measure of power and self-worth...even though it meant lying, cooking numbers, and treating the 'subordinants' with little respect.
I can't imagine they were paid so well (c'mon its EDS), I know that they received little respect from Plano-and less from their employees, and if they had any conscious at all they must have felt like crap every day after spending half their lives manipulating people to keep their mediocre (at best) operation running. Slumlords.

Zildo,
Human Resources at EDS has always been kind of a second thought.
Back in the old days and to some extent today, each signed contract – considered an “account” had an account manager who pretty much was like God with the power of life and death and HR was an entity one called to check on benefits.
Many “accounts” could be tough to work for and were demanding – but many were fair, albeit some were not. The accounts were always numbers driven and Perot kept a short list of the 5 to 10 most under performing accounts – which was a fast ticket to unemployment for account management – but not necessarily account staff.
Training was available in those days, although usually CBTs. Cakes came out for birthdays. Turkeys and hams would be sent to families for Thanks Giving or Christmas. Rolex watches and leather briefcases could be given to those completing the SED program. An account could have two major family functions a year – dinner dances in first class hotel ballrooms, family picnics with all day passes to an amusement park, or cruise ship dinner dances. Yes there was a time.
Those days also offered greater workforce protections. Account managers had greater power to set aside funding for “keep busy” projects while staff were in between contract assignments. If one was a good worker, one was taken care of until the right placement came along.
Today things are far different and vastly more numbers driven. Account managers tend to have multiple contracts and report to account executives who in return report to Industry Group Leaders and money gets tighter and tighter the closer one gets to the level of the people who actually do the work for an account. Why? Because there is huge managerial and support overhead in the middle and upper layers, so bonus pool monies, special awards and even funding for training gets strained the closer one gets to the level of the worker bees.

Some account executives and Industry Leaders are better than others in planning for and providing these things and others are total failures. Needless to say, workforce protections are largely gone. Today, individual worker bees are held accountable for managerial failures beyond their control.
Today’s EDS is unrecognizable from the EDS of yester year. We have so much work going off shore and so many sub contractors doing the work that I question the ability of EDS to actually deliver a quality product. Why? Because how does one manage divergent taskings when much of the staff comes from vastly different cultures ie training/development/ethics/methodologies/language. We actually leverage deliveries by auctioning work to subcontractor shops … gee … is the low bidder always the best?
Hmmm, management like junior high school? Well, Jay in Irving thinks that most EDS culture has 10 – 20 years of service …I don’t think so. I’m always the senior age in the room … most of my peers are gone … replaced by the cheaper … though not always better.

I have been with EDS for seven years.
I was a "transitioned" employee.
I have hated it ever since.
This is a grossly over managed company.
I can only wonder how long my job function will remain here in the states.
I would not recommend this company to any prospective employee, neither would I recommend it as a service company.

Sadly much of the above is very true. I know from first hand experience. Any suggestions on "better" company's out there that one could apply to?

tigger07 in Troy, Michigan said: Sadly much of the above is very true. I know from first hand experience. Any suggestions on "better" company's out there that one could apply to?

Tigger ... stay away from the large multi-nationals they are all the same. When my time comes ... well I guess Im ready for a career change ... project management perhaps.

Start reading the business section ... mortgage woes, china threatening to dump 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars in the event of a trade war, credit card debt restrictions and problems because people can't get new loans on their homes...trust me ... we may all be out of a job soon...no matter what the company.

hmmmm, if i recall correctly, no elected official ever missed the sunday roast beef during the great depression.

I've been approached for a 'temp to perm' position at EDS for an IT position to backfill someone who has left.

I believe this is for one of their govt contracts in the MD area. Anyone have an insight on what I could expect to encounter in the work environment? Do they require you to work insane amounts of hours?

I don't know about Maryland, but as you will see by reading other comments, long hours are very typical, especially in the IT department - long hours are kind of a norm to that department anyway. It is all in what you consider long hours.

On a good note, in the IT department I came from we were at least treated like humans, but I attribute that to a wonderful supervisor and manager - which are very rare. They both took plenty of blows for their staff because of what they believed in.

Good luck with your decision.

When EDS lands a billion dollar contract win, a global casual dress week is provided to their sla... er... employees.

party time.......

Congratulations Vex, You have seen beyond the illusion of care and concern projected from the mothership to all of the global drones. The dumb sheep of EDS bleated their cheap thrill when (after another week of rolling the sloppy juggernaught forward) the Plano control center announced the win of the (fill in the global blank:Abu Dubai check cashing contract, the UK welfare processing contract; Legoland payroll assessment system; etc) and we are rewarded with a "free" day to wear blue jeans-which is essentially garb of the working poor in most of the world. But in the brainwashed environs of Red White and Blue EDS-jeans are so RADICAL and presumably what workers would rather have instead of better pay and treatment. Such a huge treat dished out from Texas command and control-and when they deny your raise for the third (5th? 8th) year in a row, they will cite the jeans days as a measure of corporate care. 10 billion contract for EDS, jeans for the slaves. Why not a paper plate of rice and beans?
Vex, your days at EDS are numbered now that you have allowed the illusion to rip and seeds of discontent to root. I am happy for you, liberation is nigh!

Zildo in Manchester, New Hampshire said:
Vex, your days at EDS are numbered now that you have allowed the illusion to rip and seeds of discontent to root. I am happy for you, liberation is nigh!

Viva la Revolucion!
Let the uprising commence.

:) good luck, in my opinion and experience it is best to leave rather than reform from within.
And to your other question about check-in,etc.....our account-the cutting edge of technology of course--relied on a magnetic "dot" system on a big white board to track the movement of employees--years after swipe security cards had been introduced and I would not be surprised to learn that someone was also writing attendance down in a notebook....if you were to ask "why is this necessary when you are tracking us with the security cards?" If we were given an answer at all (because our leaders beleived the lesser employees barely had a reason to ask questions of the gods)...the answer would be something like "because that's the way we've always done it...." And that is why EDS and those it contracts with are so frequently F'd up internally.

EDS is the worst IT company.

I originally worked for Systemhouse, a Canadian IT services company that did everything right. After EDS bought Systemhouse, it was all downhill.

EDS is a huge, lumbering, bureaucratic, incredibly badly managed company.

I supervised a Workstation Support team for a major Multinational Canadian Oil & Gas company. I had to challenge EDS Management on a daily basis to maintain good relations with our client.

Our entire support group knew that if we implemented EDS policy, we would loose this client. EDS disagreed, and we lost this 20 yr client.

EDS is a very low quality employer; I would not be associated with them again.

After leaving EDS, it has been 3 months since I began the process to transfer my Pension money to an account managed by my Broker. It has been a nightmare experience.
This continues to be a very negative experience. EDS does not care; this is my money, not theirs. They have policy which is more important than the people involved.