Company: Microsoft
Date: 2015-10-01
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

Director
Pros: People were smart and good in a lot of ways.  Early one, when Bill was in charge and the company was growing, it was a fabulous place to work. People were high energy and loved the job, the stock was growing and you did not have an up and out culture. People were valued for their work, not their career mobility, so I use to hear the phrase, the company ran on 12 (level 12's where the majority of people stayed career wise). Very few went on to management and for good reason, you don't need that many leaders.
Cons: This became a shark infested environment once Ballmer took over. It reflected his persona which was simply mean, mean and more mean. I've never seen such poor collaboration among employees, back stabbing and personal agendas. Ballmer took the curve and publicized it in a way that just caused people to act like they were in a concentration camp. It's me or the other guy. People from India thrive in this kind of environment and that's what you have today, a company run by Indian nationals in a very conformist environment.