Company: Microsoft
Date: 2017-01-22
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Senior

Politics reign
Pros: There are a lot of very bright people who are passionate about technology. In a short amount of time, the CEO has helped to restore the company's image as that of an innovator rather than a follower, and made needed changes to help MS become more competitive in the cloud game. Customers and partners alike are excited about Microsoft technology again and that is exciting to see.
Cons: In my opinion, morale is now pretty poor mainly due to the abundance of unnecessary admin/processes, internal politics and poor management. There have been more than a few layoffs (wrapped into "re-orgs") in recent years and the practice of stack ranking employees has continued, although mgmt attempted to obscure this by calling it something else (b/c of the negative press following the Vanity Fair article about 5yrs ago).  

For years now it seems that numbers have been set at unattainable levels so that most don't make their numbers. This started during the K.T. era (former COO), presumably to cut payout costs, but it has continued after his departure. If I recall, it started after the company announced an across the board raise in base salaries (apparently in response to 'employee feedback about too much compensation being tied to stock'). 

From that point growth targets seemed to get crazy and a lot of good people left. You'd have one good year but 2 bad ones. Mgmt might change quota or revenue recognition rules mid year and there's nothing you can do about it; or worse yet, you may not find out there was a rule change until the end of the fiscal when you're trying to figure out why your attainment number is off. Incentive plans are so complex that you need a PhD to comprehend. Reporting tools are often broken and you may not be able to accurately track progress against goal, so you may get screwed if you have a manager with few scruples or if you have a mgr looking for a sacrificial lamb for the bottom of the stack ranking.