Zelcastalumni map

People who leave Microsoft most often go to Google, Meta and Amazon. Of them, 3% found something next and 18% go somewhere small. The median tenure is 2y 6m

Not Microsoft's headcount: these are the engineers in the Zelcast network and the profiles run through the Eng Scorer. 4,809 people on a map of 67,181, No. 4 on it by people. Updated September 30, 2026.

People on the map
4,8097.2% of everyone on the map
There now
1,40829% of the people here
Moved on
3,40171% of the people here
Median tenure
2y 6mmiddle half 1y 2m to 4y 5m

Put Microsoft side by side with another employer.

Came from, went to

Ribbon width is the number of people who made the move. Most arrive from Amazon. Most leave for Google (13% of recorded departures).

Microsoft4,175 in · 3,620 out
5%226Amazon4%174Google2%96Meta2%78AWS2%78IBM1%47Intel1%46Capital One1%41Apple1%31Goldman SachsGoogle45913%Meta35510%Amazon1514%Palantir842%AWS612%Apple602%Anduril Industries411%Uber331%Stripe321%
817 of 4,175 recorded arrivals shown, 3,358 more from 2,165 other companies1,276 of 3,620 recorded departures shown, 2,344 more to 1,416 other companies

After Microsoft

  • 3%Founded something107
  • 18%Joined a startup581
  • 37%Joined a big company1,237
  • 42%Elsewhere

Shares of those who moved on, by their next stop.

The Microsoft mafia

107 of the people who left went straight to a founding role, 3% of those who moved on, half of them within a month of leaving. The bars cover the ’15 to ’26 classes; earlier founders still count in the total.

How long people stay

20%<1y
20%1-2y
30%2-4y
23%4-7y
9%7y+
2y 6m median tenuremiddle half 1y 2m to 4y 5m

3,841 stays with both a start and an end on the record.

Who comes and goes, by year

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
joined left2026 is a partial year

2012 to 2026: 5,325 joined, 4,142 left.

Caliber

83mediantop 10%93
0Eng Scorer caliber, 2,051 scored99

there now 78 moved on 84. The people who left score higher than the people still there.

Titles held here

  1. Software Engineer1,508
  2. Software Engineer Intern934
  3. Software Engineer II746
  4. Senior Software Engineer543
  5. Research Intern271
  6. Software Development Engineer156
  7. Principal Software Engineer114
  8. Software Development Engineer Intern94

8 most common titles, by people who held them.

First job on the record for 18% of people here.

Behind the median

Everyone here with an Eng Scorer read, placed in their caliber tier.

  • 5%Exceptional104 people
  • 20%Strong412 people
  • 38%Solid783 people
  • 33%Emerging669 people
  • 4%Unproven81 people

2,049 of the 4,809 people here carry an Eng Scorer tier.

516 of the 2,049 people here with a read sit in exceptional or strong, the top two of the five tiers, 25%. A tier is the band a caliber score falls in, so this is the same measurement as the median on the caliber card, opened up.

Whether a title rose here

The level of the first title recorded here, against the last.

39%Titles that rose1,297 of 3,350 classified people

  • 39%Rose1,297 people
  • 57%Stayed level1,893 people
  • 5%Fell160 people

3,350 of the 4,809 people here had a title that could be placed on the ladder before and after.

A title rose when the last title recorded here sits higher on the ladder than the first. For someone with one title here who then left, it's measured against the first title of their next role. The ladder runs intern, junior, mid, senior, staff or manager, principal, director, VP, then founder or C-level. Titles that match no rung are left out rather than guessed, and product, program and project managers are left out entirely as a different ladder. What's left leans towards people who have left: someone still here on one recorded title has nothing to measure against.

Where they studied

  1. Georgia Tech9.1%
  2. Stanford8.1%
  3. Carnegie Mellon6.4%
  4. UC Berkeley6.3%
  5. MIT5.2%
  6. University of Washington4.5%
  7. UIUC3.0%
  8. USC2.7%

The 8 most listed schools among the 4,780 people here with a school on file.

433 of the 4,780 people here with a school on file list Georgia Tech, 388 list Stanford and 308 list Carnegie Mellon. A person can list more than one, so these overlap.

Public work

one square is one in a hundred
38%have a public GitHub account on their profile

1,814 of the 4,807 people here whose profile was checked for public accounts. An account the check missed reads the same as no account, so this is a floor.

31% is the median across the 857 companies that can show this figure.

Where they are now

41% of the people who have worked at Microsoft and list a location live in the San Francisco Bay Area today, against 41% of everyone on the map.

Microsoft
Everyone on the map
  • 41%SF Bay Area1,964 · map 41%
  • 21%Seattle1,015 · map 5%
  • 15%New York725 · map 18%
  • 8%Washington DC380 · map 13%
  • 2%Los Angeles113 · map 5%
  • 2%Atlanta77 · map 1%
  • 1%Boston56 · map 2%
  • 0.6%Austin31 · map 0.8%
  • 9%Somewhere else446

4,807 of the 4,809 people who worked at Microsoft list a location, and every share here is over those 4,807.

Where they live now, from the profile as it reads today, not where they sat while working at Microsoft: a metro here isn't an office there. The lower strip is the same metros across the whole map.

Key facts

  • 4,809 people on the Zelcast alumni map have worked at Microsoft: 1,408 are there now, 3,401 have moved on.
  • Most leave for Google: 459 people, 13% of recorded departures. Then Meta and Amazon.
  • Most arrive from Amazon: 226 people. Then Google and Meta.
  • Median tenure at Microsoft: 2y 6m, middle half 1y 2m to 4y 5m.
  • Of the people with a recorded next move after Microsoft, 3% went to a founder title next, 18% joined a company of 200 or fewer, and 37% joined one of 10,000 or more.
  • Median Eng Scorer caliber here: 83 on the 0 to 99 scale, across 2,051 scored people.
  • Most common title held here: Software Engineer, then Software Engineer Intern.
  • Top school: Georgia Tech, listed by 433 of the 4,780 people here with one on file (9.1%). Then Stanford (388).
  • 41% of the 4,807 people here who list a location live in SF Bay Area today, against 41% across the map. Where they live now, not the office they sat in while they worked here.
  • 38% of the 4,807 people here whose profile was checked for public accounts have a public GitHub.
  • 1,297 rose, 1,893 stayed level, 160 fell, out of the 3,350 people here whose title could be placed on a ladder before and after.

About this data: built from 352,028 jobs across 67,181 engineers in the Zelcast network and Eng Scorer reads, updated September 30, 2026. A move counts when the next role starts within 24 months of leaving. Companies under 20 people on the map aren't shown, and destinations under 3 people fold into the totals. Caliber is the Eng Scorer score.

Worked at Microsoft? See how your profile reads to a startup hiring manager, and where it ranks among 67,181 engineers.

Previous on the mapAmazonNo. 3 by people · 6,638 on the mapNext on the mapAWSNo. 5 by people · 3,154 on the map

Arrow keys move along the map.