Company: Microsoft
Date: 2009-03-14
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: current

Nice place to be from...
Pros: Decent starting salary.  Great benefits.  Great retirement plan.  Lots of extra learning possibilities.
Cons: I've worked in some pretty politically charged places before but Microsoft beats 'em all.  I was really taken in by all the wonderful talk and presentations about equality, fairness, and focus on employee development.  I certainly have been more than disappointed in what I've observed since starting at Microsoft.  The MYCD and performance reviews have been mostly focused on what management wants and precious little about what I might want to develop and contribute.  Their goals change daily and, conveniently, those goals are not clearly articulated until it comes time to point out that you've failed to meet them.

I've watched several very questionable promotions made that I'm convinced are based on favoritism and previous agreements, not on ability to manage or lead.  I have endured endless micromanagement, insulting condescension, and outright aggressive opposition in my daily work.

Microsoft is extremely top-heavy with unnecessary layers of management.  I'm amazed that any product EVER gets out the door.  In fact, that anything gets done at all.  There seem to be more meetings than there are hours in the day.  Many of us at the bottom of the ladder would love to actually be able to perform as the team we're so often admonished to be but it's impossible to function as a team when we're pushed in so many directions with differing goals.

I have come to the conclusion that working here is a nice start to my resume but definitely not a place to build a career.  I think I could forget any career if I stayed here.

And, HR?  Don't bother asking for any assistance from them.  They're too busy protecting the spoiled, power-hungry management.  Speak up and YOU become the liability.