Company: Microsoft
Date: 2017-03-06
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

Great benefits, great colleagues, weird two-tier employee system
Pros: Great benefits - for FTEs - and good pay. Lots of smart people who know Microsoft has its work cut out to change perceptions after a decade of resting on its laurels under Ballmer. Environment improving after years of toxic stack-ranking that discouraged collaboration.
Cons: The two-tier employee system, where "vendors" are treated as equals in everything day to day, except lack the same remuneration, benefits, and job security. Having been both vendor and FTE, can confirm that the claim that FTEs all have something special that vendors lack is nonsense, as is the claim that FTEs are all managers, vendors those that execute. Creates an unpleasant blue badge (FTE) vs orange badge (vendor) culture that breeds resentment and prevents excellent vendor staff from progressing.