Microsoft People Problems

At Microsoft, employees were asked to justify everything they did. No one was spared from criticism, and people were severely reprimanded when they left loopholes in their projects. Senior managers had regular meetings with the demanding Bill Gates. So dreaded were the meetings with Gates that employees were known to have mock sessions with their colleagues to prepare themselves for the actual one.

Ramesh Parmeshwaran left Microsoft after seven years to start a company called Askme.com, an internet advice portal. He said that Microsoft lacked the "human element"...

The company faced another major problem with regard to its temporary employees. Microsoft often employed temporary workers, sourced from employment agencies, to meet the need for workers at short notice. At any point of time, temporary workers constituted approximately one-third of the total workforce of the company. Temporary workers were employed as customer service representatives, software testers or even programmers...