Microsoft

Pretty good benefits. The StayFit benefit was nice, where you could get a gym membership, a reimbursement plan, or a flat stipend. Healthcare wasn't bad either.

Stable job environment. Retention is fairly high, and there are many seasoned coworkers.

Company is stable, with many product areas to try.

An obvious one, but the status that comes from working for an iconic company.

Not as much room for promotion or growth (at least on the team I was on).

People were very competitive, but the vibe was that management expected people to work with both ends of the candle burning as the norm.

While there are many product areas, my impression is that exploring other teams and trying to transfer to another is strongly discouraged. Transferring to a different division is even more of a challenge.

Not much support by management to explore areas of interest in terms of new tools or technologies. This might have been a culture trait of my team.

Lots of redundant menial work that should be automated, but no bandwidth given to work on tools for these. Also, a lot of the existing tools were slow or error-prone and needed to be improved or redone, but again, no bandwidth given for these.

Not great at onboarding new employees on my team (I am not referring to the general NEO done by HR). Lack of training materials and outreach to integrate new FTEs.

Take feedback from employee polls seriously and do not just immediately shut down requests or ideas.

Help to foster team growth and encourage dedicating some time each week to learn something new.

Help new employees by setting up a mentor or introducing new folks to each other.