Technology company IBM has appeared regularly in Working Mother magazine's 100 Best Companies, which lists companies that lead the way in providing family friendly work conditions. In 2007, the company was ranked in the top ten alongside Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and UBS. IBM also featured in the magazine's 2007 Best Companies Hall of Fame for firms that had been listed in the top 100 consistently for more than 15 years, along with other companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett Packard and Johnson & Johnson.
IBM's flexible working options allow for one third of its 140,000 employees worldwide to work either off-site or remotely on any given day. The company provides 100 day-care centres across its operations for those working mothers who are unable to work from home. All new parents are granted full health benefits for an unpaid leave period of up to 156 weeks, during which their jobs are guaranteed.
Ronald C. Glover, IBM's vice president for global workforce diversity, further explains that:
"Women have been asking for greater flexibility [and] they're also asking for tools that enable them to network with colleagues, develop their skills, and grow their career. To help them, we offer a range of programmes, from flexible work schedules and meeting-free Fridays to online resources that identify job and learning opportunities."
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