Company: Microsoft
Date: 2014-10-24
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current

Great company, but often burdened by middle management bureaucracy and resource challenges
Pros: Much of what's been said about the company is true - it's a fascinating and often challenging place to work with smart people on tough problems or cool products that impact or are used by millions of users. When it's good, it's great. I worked on internal-facing/supporting teams and released products and they were both gratifying. The changes during Satya's tenure are promising, but not with impact. The culture is good, but there's still a lot of "old skool" and elitist thinking. I had a great career there, was well compensated, and provided plenty of opportunities to learn and have an impact.
Cons: The company has great values, and in it's recent efforts to become more relevant again (and undo some of the bad publicity wrought by Ballmer's waning years) it has really reminded the industry that they are still a force to be reckoned with. Purse strings and resources are getting tighter and this makes it difficult. The recent layoffs don't seem really smartly planned, with lots of great people being let go while other non-performers remain. Benefits are still good, but have been reduced year over year to where they aren't much better than anyone else's. I remain bullish on Microsoft's future, but think they have a way to go to get to where they want to be.