Company: Microsoft
Date: 2017-09-15
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

It's a great gig until you get too much tenure
Pros: Microsoft is one of the best places to work in Reno. Great people, amazing benefits, and top pay in the area. There are plenty of challenging projects and lots of development opportunities. It's a great gig...  while it lasts...
Cons: Microsoft Reno seems to not want employees with more than 8-10 years of experience. At the Reno office, we called it the 10-year curse, because that was often the time you'd be managed out. They focus a lot on their intern program with UNR, and that's because those are the people that will replace the tenured employees when they get laid off. It's highly frustrating that this is the norm, but I saw so many high quality employees pushed out this way.  I went from being identified as Key Talent one quarter with a high review rating to being managed out the next quarter, and nothing had changed about the quality of my work.  They didn't even have a rationale for this drastic change. I can tell you the rationale -- my salary, insurance, and stock options had become too expensive for their liking.