All the best technology. All the worst baggage. - Senior Software Development Engineer Microsoft Employee Review

4.0
Sep 5, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you're a fan of Microsoft products, there's no better place to use the latest technology. Depending on your group, you may be using products that aren't even available to the general public. There isn't a single best way of doing things at Microsoft so each organization is free to develop their own best practices. From a career perspective, changing groups is like changing companies without having to start earning vacation again. The privacy policies are top notch. I have a lot of faith in my employer doing the right thing with a customer's personal data (even when I'm the customer) because I've been a part of so many reviews where privacy is highlighted as one of the most important things.

Cons

Too many fiefdoms: Microsoft was once a place where the best technical solution would win the day. There was time to argue the best way of implementing a feature. There are some important people around with delicate egos. Say the wrong thing and they will go out of their way to put in a bad word at review time. Easy to get stuck in the wrong role: I've witnessed people getting dropped in the wrong role after a reorganization. If you haven't been in your current role for 12-18 months, you could get stuck in an area that's outside your specialization. Come review time, that could mean a black mark on your review or the end of your job.

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5.0
Jul 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Discretionary Time Off and Benefits Work life balance

Cons

Ambiguity and constant change isn’t for everyone. High performance work culture, but the pay doesn’t match.

4.0
Jan 28, 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. If you love tech, this is a great place. No doubt you'll talk tech (mostly the MSFT stack) from enterprise to consumer - from PCs to phones to Xboxes - from datacenter to desktop. 2. What were GREAT benefits are now VERY GOOD (took a small step down) but still probably better than you'll find at 99% of large corporations. If you've got family - the value of the benefits is even higher. 401k match is nice. 3. Even with it's struggles MSFT is still a cash printing machine. This means if you can keep your nose clean and do reasonable work, you can have a stable job, pay your bills, feed your family, and not worry (too much) about layoffs. The stock you own likely won't tank, but probably won't go up much either. You'll get a bonus each year and some stock. It's a decent life if you aren't looking to light the world on fire.

Cons

Brand on Your Resume: After many years of losing market share and struggling to be at the front end of innovation and the fact that there's 90,000 employees, don't think MSFT is necessarily going to be attractive on your resume to more agile and smaller companies. Managing Your Career: Make you say this out loud so it registers - 90,000 employees work there. Double that for vendors. It is VERY hard to "stand out" and move up in the company. Don't expect your manager to be much of an advocate or enabler to help you meet your career goals - they are basically trying to survive the stack rank every year too. Not familiar with the stack rank? Check out the 2012 Vanity Fair article called "Microsoft's Lost Decade".

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