Be very cautious working here - Account Executive Microsoft Employee Review

3.0
12 July 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I worked at MSFT for several years and learned a lot from the company. MSFT has a lot of talented and passionate people who are working on innovative and impactful projects. The company also offers competitive compensation and benefits, as well as opportunities for educational development. Excellent benefits + fitness plan (Perks+). Some really great co-workers. Excellent technology and a great place for learning and continuing education. Promoted "work life" balance culture.

Cons

However, I also faced some challenges and difficulties during my time at Microsoft. I felt that the company culture was not very supportive or inclusive of its employees. I witnessed several layoffs that seemed arbitrary and unfair, regardless of performance or seniority. Working for Microsoft requires discretion and prudence in your communication and interactions with others. At Microsoft, I found out that career progression is not easy. They talked a lot about support and training for the next level, but I hardly saw any employees being promoted. I also felt that the lower and mid-level managers were not very effective or empowering. They often followed the senior leadership’s agenda without questioning or challenging it and did not stand up for their employees when needed.

Explore other reviews about Microsoft

5.0
7 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Interesting and varied work. Seasonality to the job allows for rest period

Cons

Less stability than there used to be makes people afraid to take risks

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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