Microsoft Employee Review

Former Employee – worked at Microsoft full-time for more than a year

Pros – -Great peer group to work with
-Compensation is fair

Cons – -Terrible review system. You may get a "5" because of circumstances and not because you did a poor job. A "5" can expect to be out the door in a few months.
-Will not address root cause of problems. Projects grouped into a program were having trouble being successful. Instead of looking at the bad decisions and poor support from the program office, blame fell 100% on the individual project managers.
-Need to spend time on "think teams" which generally do not add anything to work life. Most people in Consulting Services participate in think teams because it is part of their commitments even though they realize it is wasted time.
-Professional Development Managers, in general, do not know how to manage or help their charges be successful.
-Project Managers are either working 70 hours/week and burning out or less than half-time and not making their billable quota. Project Managers have little to no control over getting work, yet their bonus and review depend greatly on that utilization number.

Advice to Senior Management – -Change the review system. Read the comments here in Glassdoor. People don't like it!
-Tone down the rah rah and the guzzling of the Kool Aid from the fire hose. Not all of the employees just came out of high school and want pep rallies. Ballmer jumping up and down on stage and screaming all the time can get tiring.
-Help people succeed. Remove the bureaucracy and roadblocks for success. Listen to your people. Instead of tossing them out, help them succeed.
-Improve consulting services. Microsoft Consulting Services (application software group) overall does not compare to the likes of Accenture, PwC, etc. Engagement Managers routinely underbid projects to get the work and then the Project Managers must repair the damage when the client finds out the the work will really be 4x the original bid. Improve quality of the services to clients and improve the sales to service transition.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend