Microsoft

Good pay and a very good package.

Working for a leading software company, sort of...

Senior management is clueless about the direction the product is heading, with no vision of where to go except to copy other companies' ideas. It's always: "If they do something, we must do it too." It's never: "We should do this before anyone else." The work environment is very political; many decisions are based not on performance but just on who's in power and who likes whom. There's lots of dependency and repetition: start a project, finish, then scrap it, then start again! The review process is horrible; it forces people into the lower 10%, which makes managers come up with excuses to put you lower on the scale. And if you ever get on that list, good luck trying to convince your managers you don't belong – it's best to start looking for a job immediately. This is an old, outdated company full of politics and people who just care about climbing the corporate ladder instead of delivering good software. Oh, and if management ever makes a mistake, ICs, watch out! You will be on the chopping block!

Be more creative about the vision of the product; don't just follow others. Be fair and open about the review process; don't just pick on people. Have less politics; base performance on what was actually delivered.