Microsoft

100% medical insurance coverage for the whole family. Nice office if you use it. 401k with a 50% match.

There were so many talks about a special Microsoft culture. I didn't notice anything special at all. Even in startups, I felt more comfortable and had better team spirit. Management is a mess at Microsoft. No one really understands the scope of tasks; everything should be done yesterday. Managers try to push down provided estimates and add extra work during the sprint. There's no budget for bug fixes. As a result, nothing is done on time, and all blame goes to engineers.

I worked for a small startup and know what real pressure is when the future of the whole company depends on the release. So, I know what hard work is, and I got used to working overtime. But at MS, it's even worse, mostly because your efforts aren't recognized.

MS culture promises work-life balance, and management pretends they support this balance, but there's no such balance at all. MS pushes you to work overtime constantly; it's normal to work 12 hours a day, and even on weekends.