Pros

-- One of the few companies who can actually deliver on a 'promise' of opportunities to move around within the broader organization, based on interests, skills, availability, etc.
-- Brand name recognition
-- The opportunity to be involved in products and initiatives seen and used around the world.
-- Working with smart, dedicated people
-- The benefits are, hands-down, the best of any company I've worked for in a 20-year career (as in, no deductible after the initial annual one, pick up your prescription and don't pay a *cent*, chiropractic and therapy sessions all covered, etc., though dental is capped at a relatively low rate)
-- Great for hard-charging people who are adept at managing politics, meeting high (often un-stated) expectations, patient in the need to regularly revisit past decisions, thrive in changing environments and who can prioritize on a dime with little information

Cons

-- Typically, people are brought in to hold responsibilities they had at least one or two jobs ago (as if being a stellar performer elsewhere requires sliding backward when at Microsoft)
-- Resistant, at least in marketing where Microsoft's marketing prowess needs to be updated, to new ideas if nothing appears definitively "broken" about the current way
-- Unless you're in a position deemed as officially "creative", there is little room for bringing creativity to bear
-- Really, really bad people managers are the norm; good managers are extremely hard to find and they (at least in Marketing) are expected to achieve an almost-impossible, and certainly exhausting and unsustainable, level of their own "individual" work in addition to managing a team. This, despite some wide-ranging and high-potential programs put in place as required.
-- Rewards seem out of whack. Really, really, really, really bad people-managers stay employed, get inexplicably promoted if they appear to improve over a few months or get transferred to another group (where they can wreak havoc on someone else's watch). I know of at least three instances of this, where each had numerous complaints to HR, poor marks from direct reports during annual surveys, high rates of team turnover, general unhappiness, etc.
-- Incentives are often misaligned with other teams (or not even considered in line with those teams).
-- The most difficult promotion to achieve (other than to President/CEO, of course) is from senior manager to director. It essentially requires a calculated, two-year campaign of project assignments, awareness-building to potential 'voters' of your personality and accomplishments, the stars to align under a blue moon and not a single detractor among the voters. Can be done, certainly, but it's a brutal, unpredictable, ruthless process.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize that your actions speak louder than words with employees (particularly when you reward bad behavior and/or don't require managers to cultivate the best from their employees, who likely all have different types of intelligence, communication style and ways of operating).
Recognize that your bad apples become rotten and the rot spreads. Though they may appear to have been integral to a product's or project's success, others will actually step up to fill the void you're fearful of creating by actually finding someone who can lead *and* build a positive work environment.
Align goals across organizations that work together.
Recognize that making everyone fit a certain 'type' doesn't equal success ultimately.
Stop over-analyzing things before trying them, and you might just truly innovate again.

Pros

Good benefits
Reputed brand.
Easier to get a job in it when compared to Yahoo, Google and Other Great Companies.

Cons

May not suite all kinds of people, Is not a place for geeks.
In order to advance in microsoft an engineer would need 80% HR skills and 20% technical skills.
Most of the people who work here are oblivious of the outside world and are still in same set of mind as it was 25 years ago.
Creativity, out of box thinking, analytical thinking are neither encouraged nor valued.

Advice to Senior Management

Fresh mindset is to be encouraged, and concentration should be more on developing a great products, great idea rather than just worrying about revenue

Pros

Working conditions.
People.
HR processes are actually very efficient.

Cons

Lots of KPIs.
Many Scorecards.
Fire-drills.
Do this or else.

Advice to Senior Management

Back away from the current culture of command and control before it is too late. There are many intelligent people here, who will do fantastic work if allowed to do so.

Pros

Good perks. Free snacks/drinks. Nice campus in Mountain View. Plenty of parking. Challenging, interesting work. I had a good manager that looked out for me, but that may not be the case for everyone.

Cons

You will be the disdain of most of your geek peers. The wheels seem to be falling off lately. No incentive to innovate.

Advice to Senior Management

The whole business model needs to be reevaluated. Management is holding too tightly to the old cash cows. In order to innovate you have to give something up and make some hard decisions.

Pros

Salary and Brand name are a plus. Some teams do good work. Flexi time is an advantage. Great campus and facilities.

Cons

Open door policy is a farce. If you dare to compalin, you will be out within a couple of months. Manager feedback is not appreciated. People are considered as resources, not humans.

Advice to Senior Management

Should take a look at what middle level management is getting away with. Either teams have no work or too much work.

Pros

Pros

- Good place for experienced workers
- Good Pay
- Good benefits
- Talented and experienced co-workers

Cons

Cons

- Stocks not moving
- Extremely political
- Slow career growth

Advice to Senior Management

More innovation instead of following the trends
Too many political leaders. Listen to the ground

Pros

Compensation is great
Health benefits are good
Work can be interesting
Microsoft prime cards gave amazing discounts on variety of restaurants

Cons

Leads are often too busy to meet with you
Can be difficult to find the support needed to do a good job

Advice to Senior Management

.

Pros

Microsoft is challenging. You will be stretched. You will never be bored.
Microsoft offers good pay and excellent benefits.
Microsoft belives in training staff, and you will be able to learn new things and develop.
Microsoft is huge, so there are always a lot of jobs. If you are the kind of person who likes to transfer internally (after you are in your position a year, that is) then you will find ample opportunity.
Microsoft offers an internal mentoring program, which all new employees should take advantage of.
Microsoft supports parents, allowing time off.
Microsoft is about getting your job done, not about face time in the office. If you want to work 10am - 7pm, fine, as long as you deliver. They also have excellent IT which enable you to work from home. There are a lot of people who work remotely or variations of part-time.
Microsoft isn't always an easy place to work, but others will help you. Just ask.
Microsoft dogfoods it's tech on employees so things in tech don't always work perfectly. However, you do have cutting edge stuff, which is really cool.

Cons

Getting into Microsoft can be hard. Make sure you are thoroughly prepared and have done a lot of research.
Sadly, the parts of Microsoft I saw have a lot of politics. Tread carefully, and ask others more experienced than you for advice.
Teams or groups tend to work on overlapping tasks, therefore you have to fight for your patch and, sometimes, it isn't about getting the job done right, it's about getting it done first, and publicizing that fact.
Because teams are graded on a curve - 10% lowest performaners, 70% in the middle and 20% high performers, you are effectively competing against your own team throughout the year. Make sure all the managers in your group - not just your own - know about your achievements.
Reorganizations and restructuring are the order of the day at Microsoft. Learn to go with the flow as the change happens and create a new niche for yourself when the dust settles.

Advice to Senior Management

Management should stop constant reorganizations. They are destablizing, costly and negatively impact customer experience (both internal and external customers). Even a radical move, like freezing all reorgs for two years, would be a good idea. People need to win the battle, not constantly rearrange troop formations.
Management need to take a hard look at their marketing and advertising strategy. Uncool advertising is so embarrassing for employees, who'd really like to be proud to work there.

Pros

Good work life balance and supportive management with flexible work hours. Good environment within the company and lots of recreation.

Cons

Too large an organization, too many highly experienced people and not great for young ambitious professionals. slow career progression

Advice to Senior Management

Management genuinely does a great job , it should aim to pay its employees more competitively or risk losing the top performers

Pros

The health benefits are great for families. There are amazing and smart people, some good managers, some good senior managers.

Cons

This is not a family friendly workplace - the surveys are incorrect in their assessments. it's not an easy place for woman with young families. The expectations can be too great.

Advice to Senior Management

If you wish to retain more women at all levels, investigate how to increase work life balance. Better educate middle managers of HR benefits.