I was curious about some of the growth and expansion around Microsoft, and found this article from 2007 in the Seattle Times. It's mostly where I bring out-of-town visitors, because the whole Commons and surrounding buildings are only about year old. Lots of new and shiny. I'm actually kind of surprised that they didn't bring me there during my interview. I do remember seeing the construction though on my first trip out in 2008.
There is something kind of interesting about working for a company that is so big that it has some 70 buildings. For me at least, it takes me back to that college sense, where there was something bigger and exciting going on (well, except weekends, since Ashland was a bit of a suitcase campus). And the funny thing is, I don't even mind being in one of the oldest buildings there, in part because there's some real history there. BillG had an office in my building.
That article is interesting as it describes the culture, particularly the famous office culture. That was one of the things that immediately struck me as odd, actually, on my first visit a few years ago. Walking through Building 42, I was in awe that there was just office after office, as far as the eye could see. While I think that for certain roles, an office is actually pretty kick ass, it's definitely not ideal for a lot of jobs. The teams in our group pride ourselves on not having offices. It's not entirely ideal in every case though, due to space configuration issues. My team (forums) does not have a team room, so we're split between three adjacent offices and just yell to each other when we need to. The galleries guys are all in a "cozy" space that I think was BillG's office (or maybe that was above them). The Codeplex guys have a true team room.
There are more experimental spaces here and there as well. The Office Labs guys have a big room in the original buildings that is gutted, open space called "The Garage," due to the garage doors at the hallway. The newer classrooms and training areas, which I think were part of that project in the article, are largely open and flexible spaces.
Probably one of the greatest things that I've noticed is that having all those tens of thousands of people there means having cafeterias. This is the first place I've ever worked where people regularly go to lunch together. Sure, sometimes it gets too geeky and the last thing you want to do is talk about code some more, but other times we cover hair coloring, baby poop and paying $30 for a movie.
I've been in 15 buildings so far. As I said, even with all of the new shiny that I take family and friends to, I like the old buildings and their very green setting. It's pretty neat to go to talks and such where they make stuff in the headlines. Like, "Oh, they're working on Windows Phone 7 there," or you see a gi ant Halo Master Chief logo in some window, or maybe a giant signed SQL Server box in a lobby. You start to realize how big the company is, and yet it feels smaller for some reason.
It's a lot of fun to come to work every day.
No comments yet.