and despite the fact that the software is shitty and full of bugs america and the world continues to buy it allowing them to pay these high wages
i think microsoft sucks but they are the american dream where if you can provide products the public wants you can make millions.
go microsoft - go microsoft
sat, nov 6, 1999
Microsoft's workers average more than $400,000 a year Including stock options.
The Associated Press
Employees of the software giant and elected leaders kept their faith in the sprawling software giant yesterday, hours after a federal judge ruled that Bill Gates $470 billion dollar company is a monopoly whose tactics hurt consumers.
Taking a cigarette break outside her office at the company's sprawling Redmond campus, across Lake Washington from Seattle, contract worker Kimberly Caiola flatly disagreed with the judge's conclusion.
"You can use any software you want," she said. "There's millions of companies out there that make software, and anyone can use it. It's the user's choice."
Software developer Luis Huapaya dismissed the decision -with a joke: "We're a monopoly. Yea!" he said, emerging from the company's semi-traditional Friday night beer party. Turning serious, he said, "We're going to try e as hard to make better software so we'll still be the best.
"I'm going to let Bill Gates and the company decide my fate " he said. "I trust them.... It's not over 'til it's over."
Elected leaders also rallied to Gates' defense. Gov. Gary Locke said: "We strongly disagree with the judge's findings. Microsoft products have greatly benefited consumers!"
The computer giant has proven to be an incredible boon to the Washington economy, where the company employs 16,000 and the software industry overall employs about 27,000.
In 1998, the average state wage grew 7.2 percent. Without Microsoft and the software industry, that rate would have been only 4.6 percent, said the state's chief government economist, Chang Mook Sohn.
This year, he expects the growth to be 6.2 percent - 3.3 percent without the software industry.
The average wage of a Microsoft employee, counting stock options, is over $400,000 a year. The average aerospace worker, by comparison, makes about $50,000.
"The impact on the state economy is just unbelievable," Sohn said.
Employees and state leaders said they remained confident that Microsoft would win the lawsuit
"There's no question but that this was a serious defeat for Microsoft," said Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash. "Unfortunately, it was also a serious defeat for the American consumer and the American competitive position in the world as a whole.