Microsoft

• smart people in lots of places
• very good benefits
• good salary
• career-wise it is clear where to go, not clear how to get there though

• Senior leadership of the company does not seem to know how to move beyond Windows/Office.
• Many places in the company are very heavy on process. Process is actually celebrated as a great thing, sometimes to the point of losing sight that the only thing that matters is shipping great products.
• Microsoft bubble: very inward-looking. Most people have low awareness of what happens in the rest of the world in terms of new technologies, platforms, languages, innovations, etc. It is true that Microsoft creates its own gravity field, but still.
• Promotions, especially at senior levels, require a lot of political skill.

I wish I had one. I think at the highest level, they have no clue what to do, even though they are trying really hard and the company has a ton of smart people. It makes you wonder: with so many good people, what is missing?