Company: Microsoft
Date: 2013-08-12
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

Good company but past its prime
Pros: Excellent corporate governance, decentralized decision making, cutting edge practices in many areas, good benefits. Worldwide brand name recognition. Still carries prestige value in most countries. In early years, till year 2002 or so, only hired the best and the brightest.
Cons: Too big now, slow growth, so getting too political with turf battles. Too many people with too many years of experience so top heavy, and that adds to political/ turf battles. Does not seem to reward innovative ideas that much. No good system in place for encouraging innovation. So people with good ideas and ambition either do not join now or leave quickly. Sometime around 2002, hiring standards were lowered, and in my opinion, that affected the culture and quality irreversibly. Working along side only the best was a big draw and inspiration for many of us up until then. Big lesson for every corporate.