Company: Microsoft
Date: 2012-05-20
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

Great place to work if you enjoy a competitive environment
Pros: Smart people at one's peer level; incredible philanthrapic benefits and culture such that it's both encouraged and supported w/dollars for employees to give time and money to charitable organizations.
Cons: The performance review process drives some unwelcome behaviour, including short-term fiscal year focus and a more competitive than collaborative environment. Though there's a recent attempt to focus more on collaboration, effectiveness is still very much considered only at an individual level rather than a group level. The 'greater than the sum of our parts' concept doesn't foster easily in that culture, which is a missed opportunity. There's also a lot of bureaucracy. Finally the annual financial budeting process is now such a mystery that finance ends up making funding decisions for the organization without understanding the opportunities and risks of such decisions.