Microsoft reviews

4.0

77% would recommend to a friend

(53,888 total reviews)
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Satya Nadella

77% approve of CEO

71% positive business outlook

Microsoft has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 53,888 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Microsoft employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

54K reviews
4.0
May 12, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Microsoft offers some of the best opportunities in the industry for personal and professional advancement. There is quite simply no other company in the world that will offer you the resources to grow to as deep of a technical level. Community involvement in the form of blogging, attending industry events, presenting, and even time for charity work are all highly encouraged. The medical benefits are the best of any US company, hands down - I have never paid a penny for any clinic or hospital visit, including when my child was born. Management tends to be fairly hands-off in support as long as you are producing and competent. Compensation is excellent with generous stock awards and occassional cash bonuses. Yearly salary increases can be close to double-digits for high performers.

Cons

The things that make Microsoft such a good fit for some make it extremely stressful for others. You will be expected to guide your own career and to be responsible for much of your own learning. This means that you'll probably always be reading up on something and will always feel a littel behind. You'll never acheive a comfort zone in terms of career growth. The environment is competetive, and laid back types who just want to "come in and do my job" will be limited in how far they can advance. Travel is required. Working with outsourcers overseas can be stressful and unrewarding because there is no mentoring relationship to speak of - you will be dealing with lowest common denominator individuals overseas who have no incentive to learn or better themselves because the people back in the States can always get them out of a bind. Support tends to be underfunded, and you will not have all of the benefits that people in the Redmond campus have (but you won't pay $500K for a shabby house an hour away from work, either).

5.0
May 8, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Smart people; interesting work; impact and reach; ability to change careers but stay with the company; great benefits; great product; fun projects; accountability; awesome colleagues (not just smart but good people); opportunities to travel or relocate if that's important to you; flexible work practices; the ability to actually impact the lives of millions of people

Cons

lots of hours; sometimes lots of ambiguity; extremely matrixed environment so you have to be very adept at navigating and working cross-group; you're impacting millions of people so if you make a mistake it reverberates; the stock market doesn't value the company as well as it should, so your stock doesn't reflect what a great company it is; people love to Microsoft-bash - you'll need to grow a thick skin

5.0
May 8, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people. I have interviewed at more than 10 top tech companies and the openness and level of collaboration within Microsoft are second to none. The par is set pretty high for hiring and it shows. I have met and worked with some of the smartest and most talented people that I have ever experienced working at Microsoft. In addition to great peers, I have found that people in senior roles are always happy and willing to share with you their experiences and give advice when you ask, thus creating a very open and "warm" work environment. These things, in my opinion, create for a truly world-class work environment.

Cons

Microsoft is a huge company. Getting things changed is feels like it is nearly impossible. In addition, sometimes just finding the proper resource is difficult simply because of how large the company is. I often feel like Microsoft doesn't value or recognize talent as much as it used to and that seniority is the key to success within the company. This does not sit well with me since it seems like the key to job growth within the company is stamina and endurance rather than truly brilliant work. I was really hoping for more of a meritocracy within the company.

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Glassdoor has 68,458 Microsoft reviews submitted anonymously by Microsoft employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Microsoft is right for you.