[latencyloser]

Probably because the salary is comparable to dev, but with potentially a fraction of the work.

I still don't fully understand the PM role here at MSFT. At previous companies I was at, the nearest equivalent of a PM was involved closely with engineering to organize projects, discuss features, etc. Here, they're just in meetings all day and emailing each other rhetorical questions. Having attended many of those meetings, the value-add seems trivial to me.

Maybe their job is actually really demanding and I'm just way off the mark though. It also likely varies from team to team.

[bagacrap]

I don't know what you count as "work" but the PMs I know are all way too plugged-in to email, work longer hours, and stress out more than engineers. I think it's harder for them to prove their value via concrete deliverables and so they compensate by excessive enthusiasm.

[latencyloser]

I think the 'way too plugged-in to email' is what bugs me. I'm the recipient of _hundreds_ of PM emails a day. As an engineer it's easy to see this as lots of talking and little doing. But you're right, it's probably a result of not being able to have more tangible results.

[droidist2]

I think it would help if we understood what kinds of things they're accomplishing through email, meetings, etc.