What is Megacorp?

[Ally]

Is it any giant corporation or a specific one?

 

[fisherman]

It is any large corporation. Often referred to as Mega Cr*p by the many escapes around here.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Is it any giant corporation or a specific one?

Yep, what fisherman said. I am one of the 'escapees'

 

[brewer12345]

I think of megacorp as a huge, not very bright, predatory dinosaur. It eats people and resources and craps out a modicum of dividends to shareholders. Every so often one of these monsters kills another (merger) and consumes musch of the carcass, growing larger in the process.

My non-profit employer is more like a mattress: large, squishy, not good for much, but will support you (a bit) when you are ill.

 

[easysurfer]

For some, Megacorp is synonymous with Devil's Island and we are the escapees

 

[rescueme]

I think of megacorp as a huge, not very bright, predatory dinosaur. It eats people and resources and craps out a modicum of dividends to shareholders. Every so often one of these monsters kills another (merger) and consumes musch of the carcass, growing larger in the process.

Good description. I'll just add (based upon my experience) as the organization gets larger and more global in scope, the focus is changed from the employee to the stockholder being the "most important" part of the entire equation. Unfortunately, senior management forgets that it is the employee that ensures returns for the stockholder.

 

[ERD50]

I'd say just based on size and organization. Probably any Fortune 500 would be considered a MegaCorp, certainly the top 100.

As to whether they are good/bad/indifferent, that depends on your personal experience. For me, I'd say all of the above, at different times and situations, often at the same time. Probably no different than a driven individual. But it was certainly weighted towards the bad for me in the last few years on the job. But others would have said the opposite.

I've heard some real whopper stories from people at small companies, maniacal owner/boss, no HR to turn to (or 'HR' is the owner/bosses brother), etc. If you find a place that you seem to fit in well, I wouldn't worry about the size, just run with it!

-ERD50

 

[RockyMtn]

Is Megacorp bad?

Let me think....great salary, yearly bonus, stock options, pension, 401k match, early retirement medical benefits, on going consulting agreement.

Allowed me to amass enough wealth to very comfortably retire at 51.

Me thinks they not so bad after all!!!

 

[Leonidas]

That reminds me of a quote from "Retired at 35":

"But those huge corporation steal your soul."

"Yeah, but you know what they give you in return? Money!"

Nobody loves their MegaCorp for anything other than the cash it doles out. And it doesn't love you beyond your utility.

The trick is getting out with enough cash to live a decent life, while you still have a life left and a soul to enjoy it with.

 

[JBmadera]

I've heard some real whopper stories from people at small companies, maniacal owner/boss, no HR to turn to (or 'HR' is the owner/bosses brother), etc. If you find a place that you seem to fit in well, I wouldn't worry about the size, just run with it!

-ERD50[/QUOTE]

Yes, bad behavior and poor treatment of employees is not only the domain of Megacorp.

 

[calmloki]

Sort of like life in the world.

 

[Ally]

I get it now. I am the director of a nonprofit with 80-90 employees. I make OK money, good benefits and I'm treated well. But I would never get rich or have health insurance upon retirement. Fortunately, I'm married to a man who works for the State, makes much better money, will have a pension that would pass to me, if something happens to him first and health insurance for both of us.

My brother is an engineer employed by what I would call a Megacorp, by your description. I think it's accurate to say that they are trying to steal his soul, and pay him very well while doing it. Sometimes I am really appalled at his treatment.

I can vouch for horrible working conditions at small companies. The boss I worked under at our nonprofit, before I got her job, was a truly horrible lady. She only was here 2 years and nearly took us under. She was a master at threatening, humiliation and manipulation. She was fired after our two biggest funding sources told our board that they were pulling funding unless she was gone. That's when I was promoted in 1987.

 

[jIMOh]

Small companies will be hit or miss. I started in college with a small (3000 person/ $400M in revenue) software company. It rocked. 10% and 5% bonuses were common each quarter and year, and we had keg parties in the driveway too.

Then we were bought out by a megacorp, sold to an investment bank, then sold off to another megacorp. Got worse each time. I have some soul left, but am changing careers real soon to keep what I have left of it.

 

[MasterBlaster]

<From Wikipedia>

"Megacorporation" is a term popularized by William Gibson derived from the combination of the prefix mega- with the word corporation. It has become a term popularly used in cyberpunk literature. It refers to a fictional corporation that is a massive conglomerate, holding monopolistic or near-monopolistic control over multiple markets (thus exhibiting both a horizontal and a vertical monopoly). Megacorps are so powerful that they can ignore the law, possess their own heavily-armed (often military-sized) private armies, hold 'sovereign' territory, and possibly even act as outright governments (As in Final Fantasy VII). They often exercise a large degree of control over their employees, taking the idea of 'corporate culture' to an extreme. Such organizations are a staple of science fiction long predating cyberpunk, appearing in the works of writers such as Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Thea von Harbou (Metropolis), Robert A. Heinlein (Citizen of the Galaxy), Robert Asprin (The Cold Cash War) and Andre Norton (the Solar Queen novels).
Almost all depictions of a megacorporation show them as amoral (unconcerned with using ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in their decision-making process) operating purely out of a desire to achieve productivity, profit and efficiency as a machine would.[citation needed] An exception to this takes place in a Christmas story that takes place in a town where almost all businesses are owned by a corporation named Own All Corp. When the owner of the only store not owned by Own All Corp refuses to sell, she suffers no kind of sabotage from the corporation but rather from a greedy relative who desired to grab the money Austin Bucks, head of Own All Corp, offered. In fact, Own All Corp does no kind of wrongdoing thought the whole story. Very few corporations in the world currently meet the criteria to be considered true megacorporations, so the concept remains contained in the realm of speculative fiction.

 

[travelover]

........... She was a master at threatening, humiliation and manipulation...........

......and is currently CEO of......

 

[rescueme]

Nobody loves their MegaCorp for anything other than the cash it doles out. And it doesn't love you beyond your utility.

I would say that statement would apply to any company, regardless of size; at least that has been my experience...

 

[Rustward]

I've heard some real whopper stories from people at small companies, maniacal owner/boss, no HR to turn to (or 'HR' is the owner/bosses brother), etc. If you find a place that you seem to fit in well, I wouldn't worry about the size, just run with it!

-ERD50

Been in one of those -- owned by a megalomaniac. Whenever something went wrong it usually was very loudly blamed on the closest person.

This one declared himself the HR department and insisted on doing payroll personally. He would only pay via direct deposit -- except one time he was a day late and paid with a handwritten check. We never heard went wrong with this one, but one of the other guys told me he was asked to restore some Quickbooks files on the server.

 

[e86s54]

A large bureaucracy run by accountants. For me more specifically is, upper management wanting you to perform miracle tasks and never provide you with the resources to ever succeed. Then the tasks are dropped and forgotten until upper management is replaced, then the whole things starts over again.

 

[Ally]

I bow down to you survivors of Megacorps! Enjoy your ER.

 

[Lisa99]

Is Megacorp bad?

Let me think....great salary, yearly bonus, stock options, pension, 401k match, early retirement medical benefits, on going consulting agreement.

Allowed me to amass enough wealth to very comfortably retire at 51.

Me thinks they not so bad after all!!!

Every mega is different and mine is particularly greedy:
Great salary - in line with the market, but no raise in several years
Yearly bonus - Some years, but they're measley. I've had one in four years and it was $2000 (< 5% of my salary)
Stock options - not where I work
Pension - nope
401k match - up to the 1st 2%...so not great
ER medical - for now
Consulting - don't know about that one

If I had a career do over, I would have considered the public sector or possibly the military.

 

[ls99]

If they are loaded with Harvard MBAs, most likely a megacorp.

 

[ronocnikral]

megac*rps will embark on "safety" crusades in which they photograph a piece of pizza on an employee's desk, ensuring to capture a picture of the employee on the desk so everyone will know who it is. they then send out a note to the entire department to let everyone know it is not "safe" to leave their "lunch" out on their desk and that everyone should "keep food in the refrigerator."

when the employee states they feel parts of their private life were exposed which they do not wish to share or have their co-workers know about, they are told they "are reading too much into it." and that they shouldn't bother the "manager" about his safety crusade.

anyone need a petroleum engineer?

 

[FreeAtLast]

I have been employed by a Megacorp only once. They were actually in negotiations to sell the company around the time I was hired.
The company was finally sold within the year, they came in sucked our brains for months, the corporate offices were moved elsewhere and then we were all fired.

 

[JakeBrake]

Think "Dilbert". If you need a definition of "Megacorp", you probaby never worked for one.

 

[dessert]

Is Megacorp bad?

Let me think....great salary, yearly bonus, stock options, pension, 401k match, early retirement medical benefits, on going consulting agreement.

Allowed me to amass enough wealth to very comfortably retire at 51.

Me thinks they not so bad after all!!!

I also agree with the comments by RockyMtn.
I know I have been fortunate to w**k for a MegaCorp. 33.5 years non-stop with no regrets. I have been called lucky but I know that I "made my own luck". Now I am 22 days from leaving it all behind and I still like all of the people there and the MegaCorp is still going strong and treating the employees well with good benefits and salary and safe working conditions.
I'm the Anomaly and I recognize that.