Love it or hate it. Not much in between. - Senior Software Development Engineer Microsoft Employee Review

3.0
3 Sept 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For type A personalities that can handle the politics, you can make a very good living. The benefits are amazing. The Redmond campus is is very nice place to work. Your experience will depend greatly on the group your wind up in. For those fortunate enough to hook up with a good group, and get a good manager, MS is a great place to work. The company's core businesses, Windows and Office, still provide a near guaranteed flow of profit. There is no worry about the company hurting for cash anytime soon. If the offer is from the right group, and you can handle the politics, then I recommend giving Microsoft a try.

Cons

On the other hand, if you get a bad manager, or wind up in a position that is a poor fit, your career at Microsoft will end swiftly even if you have a long history of strong performance. Every year, 20% of employees are given poor rankings (forced distribution), effectively ending their career at Microsoft. The forced stank rank distribution ensures that half off all new hires are gone within 5 years, and will not vest the majority of their stock awards. Discount the value of your job offer accordingly. Microsoft is a giant company, and it's nearly impossible to be more than a small cog of the machine. If you're looking to be a force for change, look elsewhere. If you try to change the company from the inside, you're more than likely going to make enough enemies to end your career. Although the company is still a top employer, many of the very best programers go to Facebook or Google if they can.

Explore other reviews about Microsoft

5.0
5 Jul 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
28 Jan 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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