Microsoft Senior Software Development Engineer reviews

It's a giant, bureaucratic company that is only getting bigger and more bureaucratic. The company is growing beyond all need and beyond all reason. There is little to no value in the myriad new processes that are constantly being introduced. However, introducing and managing process is what the company rewards, so this is only going to get worse. Senior management is terrible. They make horrible decisions on acquisitions and strategy. Within any individual division, there is never a clear focus. Building great software has given way to building fiefdoms, protecting your territory, and introducing useless process. Increasingly the management of any given division actually knows very little about developing software. Despite all claims to the contrary, beyond a certain level, it becomes very difficult to grow your career as a technical individual contributor. You can either move into management and become useless, or you can spend more and more of your time with political maneuvering and visibility games so that you can continue to get promoted. Either way, less and less of your time will be spent actually designing and developing software.

Due to increase in size, the whole company is out of control. Tons of people who got recruited in last decade are mediocre at best. Management chain is generally non-visionary average types who just can't compete. The net result is that in 5 years this company will be stalled if nothing is done. Then many of reasons of work will diminish. So in short, future is dark. Other downside is uncreative average to bad food in cafeteria.