Microsoft Software Engineer (Software Developer II) reviews

Constant micromanagement, management gets in the way more than they help you. Not much agency - you have to fight with management to get approval to do anything There's a promise of career advancement but you'll be jumping through hoops for months, then pause when the 'industry is in a difficult spot' and tell you to 'be grateful to have a job' Company makes record profits and lays off thousands of staff in the same quarter. Multibillion dollar company constantly citing 'budget concerns' for not giving raises / promotions Internal politics limit advancement - teams fight over credit for projects since compensation is tied to 'impact' (management decides what that means) Work moves at a glacial pace - stuck in meetings and writing word documents for months and they throw the work out half the time

Priorities change all the time Too much bureaucracy to do anything Things are done very slowly, too many stakeholders