Today, we started our morning by hopping on the Luas tram system and heading over to Microsoft’s European Headquarters. I was unsure what to think of before we arrived. I imagined it being a large building with people packed inside, and not a whole lot of collaboration. I was pleasantly surprised to how welcoming the folks at Microsoft were, as well as how fun and collaborative their office space was.
The company as a whole has shifted to a more collaborative environment and a culture that focuses on the employee being happy under new CEO Satya Nadella. This is visible in the Dublin office with the inclusion of a food court, spaces for team members to collaborate, as well as sports for employees to relax and blow off some steam. Microsoft has also incorporated themselves into both the community by striving to be more environmentally friendly by setting goals to be carbon negative, water positive, and produce no emissions by 2025. This is achieved by doing things like using recycled materials in their office supplies. Nicolas, a project manager at Microsoft and our host for the day showed us how things like notebooks and computer mouses are made from recycled materials like ocean plastics to help achieve this goal. they have also integrated themselves into the community by having projects such as one where they construct modified XBOX controllers for those who have disabilities to play games. However, the most interesting thing I learned at Microsoft was their advance in augmented reality. The team displayed how the use of a headset and AR technology can be useful in mechanical engineering to solve issues with equipment, as well as explained how similar technology can be used further down the road in the medical field for things such as practicing surgeries.
Overall, a collaborative company culture as well as knowing that your work is both impactful and meaningful is something that I value in the workplace, so I could definitely see myself working at Microsoft. I am curious to see if other massive tech companies have the same focus on culture as Microsoft does, and how the culture affects the productivity of the company as a whole.
After the visit with Microsoft, I grabbed a quick bite and the group took of again to visit Croke Park, the home of GAA sports such as hurling and Gaelic football. It was interesting to learn some of the rules behind these sports as well as compare the history and culture behind them to sports in the US. Overall, it was an interesting experience and, as an E-board member of the Sports Business Association at Pitt, I gained some applicable knowledge about international sports.