If things turn around again hopefully people remember this. This wasn't a shared hardship between leadership and the line engineers.
This isn't accurate and hasn't been for some time. Microsoft's engineers are lower-quality than their peers, because Microsoft has been offering lower compensation than their peers -- by a substantial amount -- for over a decade now.
Maybe lower-level engineers don't really matter. I don't know. But unless you're at the partner level, you're getting paid a lot less at Microsoft than you would be elsewhere, and in light in recent events, you're not even benefiting from the stability you'd get elsewhere. I suspect this will have long-term impacts on Microsoft as they continue to lose talented engineers at the lower levels, but no longer have talented old-timers around at the higher levels. Once people at the 67+ level start retiring en masse, I'm not sure Microsoft actually has the talent to replace them.
The one year (2016) I worked at Microsoft after an acquisition was more than any startup has paid me, even if you factor in "(stock options exit / years worked at start) + startup salary"
I was blown away and felt stupid for all the years I've been chasing startup lottery tickets.
Any of the big tech companies, including Microsoft, pay WAY more than your average programming gig. OH and they don't have career ceilings for individual contributors.
I'd happily work there again someday, and really wish someone would have told me how high the pay is at these big tech companies 20 years ago. Would have skipped the startup route.