Microsoft

Work-life balance is good. The hybrid work is pretty flexible, and it allows me to travel more and work from home when needed. Coworkers and the team are great to work with. The continuous growth mentality means we are always learning new technologies and skills, including unlimited AI use for work and personal accounts. Also, Microsoft is relatively stable compared to other big tech companies right now. The benefits, such as a 401(k) and health insurance, are also pretty good.

Salary can be a bit lower than other big tech companies. Level growth can sometimes seem more based on seniority than actual output. Bonuses again are often determined more by executive decisions than actual performance.

Bureaucracy sometimes slows down work, i.e., I might have to reach out to multiple teams or managers to make a small change at times. Leadership and direction feels a bit scattered at times, as we may end up having multiple teams work on very similar products instead of collaborating on one product or vision.

In Azure specifically, I think there is room for a more unified vision and focus on user experience and simplification. The more we can consolidate products and steps, the easier it will be for users to adopt our services.