Microsoft UK is slammed by its staff

SOFTWARE HOUSE Microsoft might sound like a nice place to work, but according to its ex-employees it really isn't.

The company has been rocked by a couple of scandals recently and high flying executives in its UK offices been accused of sexual harassment and racism, two things that probably do not come up during the interview process.

Microsoft has denied the claims, which it said are unfortunate. "Our staff were not happy to see Microsoft's name in your paper, in that way," said Scott Dodds, Microsoft's general manager of marketing and operations for the UK to the Telegraph. "Nobody likes to hear those kind of stories about their own company. Inevitably it causes people to look at it very hard and - you know, we were quite upset by it."

But the Telegraph has dug deeper into Microsoft's offices and found other people happy to talk about how unhappy they are.

"Drinking to excess and loutish behaviour was commonplace, along with wrecking hotel rooms and throwing food around restaurants - always on expenses," said one ex-employee who did not want to be identified.

"I lost faith in a company I used to highly respect, especially when the self-congratulatory emails arrived from HR portraying Microsoft as a company that is very charitable. The double standards were sickening."

Morale is not helped by a score carding system that allegedly sees senior staff anonymously rank their workers. "The score card has become the centerpiece of Microsoft," one source told the paper, while senior managers are said to have goals for "positive attrition" and "negative attrition", which sounds suitably Orwellian.

Motivation is further set back by a culture of litigation, rather than innovation, according to the newspaper's sources. "We are using legal means instead of innovation," one executive added. "We need to go back to the days when Bill Gates was at the helm, when it was about vision and principles."

We've asked Microsoft for a response.

Update
Microsoft has provided us with a comment. It said that Microsoft is recognised as a good place to work, and distanced itself from the "anonymous" comments.

"As stated previously it is inappropriate for us to comment on a pending legal matter. However, these anonymous claims are simply not consistent with our values, the strength of our business and our three-decade investment in the UK - all of which is why Microsoft is repeatedly recognised as one of the UK's best workplaces." µ