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Smart, hard-working people... too much bureaucracy

Engineering
Former Employee
Worked at Microsoft for less than 1 year
May 19, 2014
Redmond, Washington
3.0
RecommendsNeutral OutlookNo CEO Opinion
Pros

The pay and benefits are fantastic.

It is a stable company. It's not going anywhere.

It's a big company. When you get bored, you can transfer to another product without losing your pay, benefits, seniority, etc.

Many groups are doing exciting work. People around the world depend on the software and product you make.

I had great work-life balance, but this depends on the group.

Cons

It is a mature company, and with stability comes a slower reaction speed. If you are really action-oriented, you may find this to be tedious.

Strangers yell at you on airplanes for being evil because they have demonized your employer. This is childish and inaccurate. Microsoft isn't evil. The employees aren't evil. Everyone is doing their best for customers. But that doesn't stop trolls, and trolls are really damn annoying.

Advice to Management

Old Microsoft gave decision-making power to project owners and their immediate managers. Now it seems that nothing is decided without directors and a team of managers debating things for months.

As long as this is the case, Microsoft isn't actually agile. Empower your people to do the right things for customers.

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