Company: Microsoft
Date: 2008-06-17
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former

Used to be great working there, now it's just a decent paying job.
Pros: Great benefits and somewhat reasonable compensation. MS was a great place to work in the late 90's and we put out some great work. We certainly had our share of mistakes, but addressed them much more efficiently back then. It's tough to think of only 10 yrs ago as the 'Good Ol' Days' .
Cons: The Emperor and a number of of upper mgmt minions are walking around completely naked, and few people have the access or the courage to tell them how they're dressed. Layer upon layer of onerous legacy processes, managed by PM's who've never really had the chance to properly analyze and implement real working processes are subjected on the IC's who have no say. If a non-mgmt employee, or, shudder, a lowly orange-badge, should make a suggestion that something should be done differently, they are either ignored out of hand, told to mind their place, or stop being negative.
I worked at MS for just shy of 10 yrs, as both orange and blue badge, in IC (Test) and PM roles. A couple yrs ago, I was pointedly told that I should not include the taboo phrase "...we're changing our process..." in an email because it might upset some Sr Mgr in another group. That was the 'straw that broke the camel's back' . Good timing too; the 'Review Payday' was just around the corner. I took my booty and jumped ship. It took only a couple wks to find a much better role in a much smaller company, about 10 miles closer to my home. I'm paid more, have nearly the same benefits, have much more input and access to ALL levels of the company, and I actually go home at a decent time.