Feels like they're circling the drain... - Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET) II Microsoft Employee Review

2.0
8 Oct 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefits and pay although medical coverage took a hit this year. Work with some very talented and intelligent people, international name recognition, and flexible hours. Many opportunities to move around the company and work on something completely different. The early days when I worked there were filled with lots of hard work but also hard play--morale events, trips to Vegas, and a great sense of camaraderie.

Cons

Flexible hours also means work/life balance is a joke--you have the flexibility to decide which 80 hours you want to work each week. Stack-ranking system is a teamwork and morale killer. This is the most pathetic and antagonistic policy I've seen implemented over the years. Lack of flexibility and drive at the upper management levels. We had smartphones, touch screens, tablets, and such well before Apple--nobody took them and kept improving on them to deliver something that would wow the world! They just shelved it or kept insisting that it would have to run Windows.

Explore other reviews about Microsoft

5.0
27 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

good work life balance, culture and career growth

Cons

less compatitive salary compare to other big company

4.0
28 Jan 2013
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1. If you love tech, this is a great place. No doubt you'll talk tech (mostly the MSFT stack) from enterprise to consumer - from PCs to phones to Xboxes - from datacenter to desktop. 2. What were GREAT benefits are now VERY GOOD (took a small step down) but still probably better than you'll find at 99% of large corporations. If you've got family - the value of the benefits is even higher. 401k match is nice. 3. Even with it's struggles MSFT is still a cash printing machine. This means if you can keep your nose clean and do reasonable work, you can have a stable job, pay your bills, feed your family, and not worry (too much) about layoffs. The stock you own likely won't tank, but probably won't go up much either. You'll get a bonus each year and some stock. It's a decent life if you aren't looking to light the world on fire.

Cons

Brand on Your Resume: After many years of losing market share and struggling to be at the front end of innovation and the fact that there's 90,000 employees, don't think MSFT is necessarily going to be attractive on your resume to more agile and smaller companies. Managing Your Career: Make you say this out loud so it registers - 90,000 employees work there. Double that for vendors. It is VERY hard to "stand out" and move up in the company. Don't expect your manager to be much of an advocate or enabler to help you meet your career goals - they are basically trying to survive the stack rank every year too. Not familiar with the stack rank? Check out the 2012 Vanity Fair article called "Microsoft's Lost Decade".

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