5 ms·
You know, in the 90s, Microsoft was considered to be a deeply unethical company. Would anyone now consider Microsoft on someone's resume to be a black mark?
by YuriNiyazov 10y ago
You know, in the 90s, Microsoft was considered to be a deeply unethical company. Would anyone now consider Microsoft on someone's resume to be a black mark?
- engatuber 10y agoDid Microsoft have a reputation for sexual harassment and toxic managers? I don't know much about Microsoft in the 90s.
- noir_lord 10y agoNo, Microsoft has generally (I'm sure at the size they are they have had some issues) never had major problems like that. Their reputation was more around 3E's (Embrace, Extend, Extinguish), they didn't play well with others (intentionally).
- brudgers 10y agoMy perception is that Uber does not enjoy a PR bonanza based upon its ability to work with others.
- pottersbasilisk 10y agoYes and probably still has them. http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-is-filled-with-abusive-managers-and-overworked-employees-says-tell-all-book-2012-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-is-filled-with-abus... The key thing to remember is most people at uber and microsoft are decent people.
- mathgeek 10y agoHonestly, I'm not sure that sexual harassment was a black mark on many companies in the 90's. The culture was different and (sadly) it just wasn't as big of a deal that it was happening. We've come a long way since then.
- mgkimsal 10y agoI remember hearing almost those exact phrases, but it was in the late 90s, comparing that time to the 70s.
- dragonwriter 10y agoAnd, relatively speaking, it was true then. That doesn't stop the 2010s to 1990s comparison, relatively speaking, from also being true.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- untog 10y agoThat's an interesting comparison. Back in the 90s, Microsoft was considered unethical from a business standpoint, but not as a workplace. Uber, on the other hand, has lots of claims of workplace harassment, sexism, general dysfunction, etc. etc. So an employee that tolerated working at Microsoft in the 90s could legitimately be looked at differently than someone who works at Uber today. FTR, I'm not convinced it's right to judge employees in either scenario negatively. I'm just not sure they're the same scenario.
- sleepybrett 10y agoI've worked at and helped hire for companies in Seattle, I've personally voted down people coming from MS (especially a few years back) because MS trains people to play certain toxic political games to get ahead. When those employees move to other companies those games tend to persist. ( This is generally a management tier problem )
- burnallofit 10y agoFWIW, things have changed dramatically at MSFT since Satya took over.
- onion2k 10y agoMicrosoft's troubles were entirely due to their business decisions. There was never any suggestion that the engineers there were toxic. That is quite different to Uber's current reputation.
- bdam21 10y agoIdk. I worked at MS during the period being discussed, and it felt pretty toxic to me. Maybe its just that no one listened/cared back then... Having gone to HR, I can attest they cared as little about harassment then as Uber is displaying now. What's interesting to me is that people seem so surprised with the level of toxicity in the software environment for women. Uber didn't happen in a vacuum. That behavior accumulates over time via interactions with hundreds of different companies. And thousands of HR reports that have been ignored. All of which have brought us to this point. HR hasn't cared enough to stop it ever. At any company I've worked at. Brutal assessment, but spoken from a place of real experience.
- mrweasel 10y agoRecall when people where told to quit SCO, or they would never work for companies X, Y and Z? I think the companies that made that threat has forgotten about it at this point People (and companies) forget quickly, especially if the person they're interviewing is pleasant and competent.