A Top Tech Employer But Not Perfect - Business Program Manager Microsoft Employee Review

3.0
2 May 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Satya Nadella has really changed the company for the better since taking over as CEO. The vast majority of employees now feel proud to work for Microsoft compared to the Ballmer era. Microsoft has great benefits (PTO, 401k match, new caregiver benefit, reimbursement for up to $800 in physical fitness, etc.) and flexible work arrangements. Work can be very rewarding and you have the ability to make a real impact on the world. The yearly MSReady conference in Las Vegas for field roles is quite fun with lots of opportunities to learn and a great way to recharge. Many friendly, intelligent, and hard-working people work at Microsoft. You'll learn a great deal.

Cons

Limited Career Advancement Opportunities For Some People- If you don't live in WA state or nearby one of Microsoft's campuses, career advancement is very tough unless you want to stay in a sales-oriented or 90%-travel position. Difficult and Time Consuming to Move Around in the Company: The internal interview process to move into a new role or organization within the company is very slow (can take weeks or months), not at all transparent, and is a full-day interview experience just as external candidates have to face. Competition is fierce but if you're persistent it's possible to land a new position. Tools & Processes: Employees continually have low marks on yearly polling regarding having the right tools, reports, and processes in place to get our jobs done effectively. I haven't seen many improvements in the several years I've been here and don't expect many changes in the future either. Compensation: While the benefits are fantastic, the total compensation could be much better. I feel that salaries and stock rewards are falling behind compared to other top tier tech companies.

Explore other reviews about Microsoft

5.0
19 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- great culture - great work life balance - great coworkers

Cons

- feels too relaxed, no one takes the work super seriously - always comparing themselves to apple

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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