Microsoft's labor troubles

[lovuian]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/13/technology/microsoft_employees/index.htm?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Microsoft's all grown up.

Now, along with the middle-age woes of a stagnant stock and a host of new competition, the world's biggest computer software maker apparently can add "attracting young blood" to its list.


Microsoft's top excecs may be excited to work at the company, but some rank and file employees are not, a report says.



Microsoft (Research) employees are growing more and more disillusioned with stagnating salaries and an increasingly contentious review system that they say is unfair, according to a recent report in WashTech News. That's led to more defections by senior engineers and growing dissatisfaction among rank-and-file workers, the report said.

The publication is affiliated with the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, a labor union affiliated with the AFL-CIO that has tried to organize Microsoft workers in the past. At issue is the company's performance review system, according to the report. Microsoft employs some 38,000 workers in the U.S. alone.

Some workers have complained that the review process has become tainted, rewarding workers based on office politics rather than performance.

more...
I have a friend who just interviewed for Microsoft... he didn't get the job... he was young innovative and in one of the top 5 colleges for MIS ... when asked was he upset that he didn't get it... He smiled
no that he knew people hired there and they weren't happy... He has gotten a job somewhere else with room to grow and to get stock options....... I don't think Microsoft knows who the top talent is???
They are looking in other countries... good luck ... meanwhile other companies will steal them out from under their noses .......

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Microsoft sells essentially defective unreliable products

that are obsolete by the time they hit the market. Their "innovation" comes from buying out other companies. Sadly, it's the best that civilized the world has to offer.

[amber dog democrat]

4. Good at defending weak products

Friends don't let friends use Microsoft. I remain a die hard Mac user. I see nothing to make me want to change this.

[Tab]

8. No, it's not the best the civilized world has to offer.

Companies like Borland and Stacker had products that blew away Microsoft's.

Microsoft, however, has one hell of a marketing and leverage program, that it uses mercilessly to drive better, but less-marketed products out of business. And now it has a heck of a bank account behind it. It's also using the old IBM technique of sowing FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) if you use a competitor, and I've seen them freeze up a whole industry that just goes one hold while it waits to see what Microsoft is going to do.

Some of the best marketing, yes. Best products, absolutely not.

[Vidar]

12. Not to mention Norton and PCTools in the past.

[Born Free]

20. Microsoft products are improving...

However, they are losing the edge, their rate of improvement is not equal to open source. Their system is still consider the most popular for the desktop but in other areas they do not hold that title.

[bemildred]

2. Dinosaurs become extinct. nt

[tridim]

3. I know plenty of rank-and-file Microsofties who love their jobs

Assuming the article is accurate, if the engineers want to leave that's their business.. Just wait until they discover the non-MS bullshit they'll have to deal with at some other company. Fact is, the whole IT industry is screwed up, not just Microsoft. It's been that way since 2000.

[bemildred]

6. It's been that way as long as I can remember.

And I remember back quite a ways. The main difference is we used to be treated much better. The bullshit level was always very high.

[JuniperLea]

5. I know three "Softies"

And not one of them likes their job. Fortunately for them, they are all brilliant and have good paying jobs, otherwise, I'm betting they would all quit.

[superconnected]

13. I can name at least 100.

And they are not happy with their salaries.

I refuse to admit where I'm typing this from.

[high density]

7. I'd move out to Redmond in a second if they could guarantee me a job

I'm already dealing with the very shitty and hypocritical corporate "culture" side of things in the $20k/year job I have now, so I'd have no problem making 2-2.5x that and dealing with it for a few more years until the job market improves.

The problem is that their career site isn't exactly overflowing with entry level jobs, and to find them requires wading through thousands of other jobs that are far out of an entry level person's skillset. I also have a feeling they're looking for A-type personalities, and I'm certainly not that.

[lovuian]

17. Well what they wanted from this kid was EVERYTHING

and I assure you Bill Gates is crazy if he's going to get that from the students in India or China...Its really kinda funny :rofl: The kid was asked for a 6 month internship when most internships last 3 months...

I'm just giving you guys the feel out there maybe Google will take him after he graduates :rofl: I think Microsoft better get its act together... I agree with the article its turning out to be lumbering dinosaur...

[physioex]

9. Second Rate Company with products to match.....

If Microsoft was to drop of this planet like I wish for Walmart then all of us would that much the better off....

[Terran1212]

10. Ever read Naomi Klein's "No Logo"?

Micro-serfs they call them.

[Missy Vixen]

11. We're 10 miles from world corporate headquarters

and are surrounded by either those who work there because they have no other choice, or those who work there who will not suffer any kind of criticism of Microsoft. At all. Warranted or not.

If you're in your 20's and don't mind working 80-100 hours a week, it's a great place. If you're in your 40's and would prefer a bit of balance, you won't find it at Microsoft. That will never change. We also see the effects of their review system in our neighborhood. We are some of the few homeowners in a 40-house development that don't work at the Evil Empire. Most of our neighbors don't talk to each other. Why? They compete with each other, even when they're not at work.

Julie

[superconnected]

14. That is so true.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. Perhaps they could outsource everything to India

:shrug:

[harpo]

16. just the 42 acre dev/research campus being built there

[54anickel]

18. I'm betting the performance review process was changed to the

"Bell-curve" notion GE had implemented. It was the latest management craze that was hitting the Tech sector when I was in it a couple of years ago. My company adopted it (upper management idolized GE) and Intel and Microsoft were talking about it back then as well. Managers had to have their departmental reviews come out to a bell curve - certain percentages ranked at the bottom, middle and top. The lowest scoring employees got a very minimal if any raise and were your sacrificial lambs when it came time for culling the herd. Suddenly suckin' up, blowing smoke up the big guys ass and being liked by the manager became priority number one, performing your job at peek level became secondary.

[Missy Vixen]

19. Yup

You hit the nail right on the head.

>Suddenly suckin' up, blowing smoke up the big guys ass and being liked by the manager became priority number one, performing your job at peek level became secondary.<

It's also important to be sure and stab others in the back to make sure one doesn't end up at the bottom of that bell curve. Performance isn't valued. Innovation isn't valued. It's all about whom you can knife on your way to the latest "team building event".

Julie

[54anickel]

21. Oh my, sounds like you've been there too! It ended up taking my

previous employer right down the crapper. Our "quality, cutting edge technology" product became indistinguishable from the other guys "cheap junk" and we found ourselves unable to compete on price alone. We lost the customers who were willing to pay more for the name, innovation and quality once the innovation and quality were dropped.