An incredibly bloated company with very top-heavy management. Working for HP either as a contractor, consultant, or employee can be a flashback to the old style days of the military-industrial complex- with strict rate structures, lots of paperwork, and a whole bunch of people who sit around not doing very much.

Still, if you work for this company for any amount of time, it may be a refreshing breather from Silicon Valley's stress farm way of life. The HP way is one of treating your employee's non-work life with respect with lots of flex-time, telecommuting, and maternal leave. A warning though: the dilbert principle applies in full force here!