What It's Like to Work at Corning Inc.

Computerworld -

Interviewee: Greg DiIorio, information technology business manager of the telecommunications products division, which makes the glass for fiber-optic products used to create fiber-optic cables
Company: Corning Inc.
Main location: Corning, N.Y.
Is Corning a company town? "We were at one point. It was more of a factory, blue-collar town, but that has changed 180 degrees to more of a professional town. We actually have more Ph.D.s per capita than Silicon Valley.
"Corning is always reinventing itself. We just announced a new branding strategy that reflects the fact that all of our businesses are in high-tech, fast-growth sectors. And part of our changing image is shedding the 'company-town' designation."
What's the company's best-kept secret? "Corning has been as integral in laying the infrastructure for the Internet as the Ciscos of the world. So now we're emphasizing that we are a major player in the Internet space. Wall Street knows it, but the general public does not."
Number of IT employees: 1,000 companywide
Number of employees (end users): About 30,000
Career path: Started as a telecommunications analyst; named to lead a corporate messaging initiative in 1996; led an Internet infrastructure development project and deployed a remote-access strategy and infrastructure; and moved into current position last July.
Is such a path typical? Yes. "Within Corning IT there's tremendous opportunity to move around, learn new skills and work in various divisions."
Dress code: Business casual
Workday: "The workday isn't bracketed just by the hours you put in at the office. We . . . were one of the first towns in the country to get cable modems . . . that allow people to work from home. So I usually do e-mail from about 5:30 to 7 a.m. and get to the office about 7:30 a.m. I leave at about 5:30 p.m., coach baseball, put the kids to bed and then log in again at 9 or 10 p.m."
Must people carry beepers? Cell phones? "Oh, yeah. Everybody in IT gets a beeper—it's standard issue. We're always on call formally or informally."
Must you travel? Yes. "It comes in peaks and troughs. I may not travel for a couple of months, and then I'll be gone two or three times in a month."
Training: "We have a unique orientation program in this division . . . that orients you to every functional group in the division. . . . Technical training will include database, e-applications, Web-based applications development, and now . . . there may be some (enterprise resource planning) training."
Employee reviews: