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Don't be fooled. Microsoft was once a great place to work, but not any more

Software Development Engineer II
Former Employee
Worked at Microsoft for less than 1 year
December 31, 2010
Redmond, Washington
2.0
Doesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

Brand Recognition.

The Microsoft Campus (regardless of which one you wind up at) will be nice.

There is a great deal of flexibility with regard to which 12 hours you wish to work each day.

Cons

Currently, Microsoft is so focused on cost cutting, you will have to deal with constantly eroding benefits. The culture there has become very elitist. Even the dumbest blockhead is convinced they must be brilliant or Microsoft wouldn't have hired them. There is a great deal of talk about "Work Life Balance," but it is just talk. There is constant pressure to work more, put in more hours, stay later, etc.

Advice to Management

Start asking yourself why so many of your best developers are leaving.

Develop an imagination and try to do something new rather than constantly trying to develop something "just like" some other product that is turning out to be successful, but you didn't think of.

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