Ha, Microsoft you are oh so caring. In case you are unaware, the software giant has spent a clean $59 million to prepare its Cambridge campus for new employees.
Now the company has provided its employees with a 44-page guide for its employees that are moving from the Redmond camps to the United Kingdom headquarters. The guide is aimed at helping them get used to Britain’s lifestyle.
According to a report at The Sun, the handbook is made up of tips on the local cuisine and bars, the language differences, as well as showing warnings regarding guns and obscene material.
In short, Americans are advised to leave all their guns at home, and avoid going through the customs offices with obscene material, drugs and – wait for it – dead animals.
The guide also details the fact that Britons prefer to adapt recipes to their local tastes, meaning the Chinese takeaways there may be quite different than the ones they are used to in America:
“Be warned that although this exotic cuisine is largely cherished by the British, the takeaways produce food adapted to the British taste and so will not necessarily be as authentic as dishes eaten in those particular countries.”
Apparently, some of the employees that have made the move are finding that adjusting to the new culture takes time. Cambridge Mayor Sheila Stuart for instance was quoted as saying:
“Moving here was a very strange experience for me. It took me a long time to make sense of it. You could not get coffee late at night.”
So there you have it, folks. As if working on the upcoming Windows Blue and Windows 9 releases was not intensive enough experience, some Redmond employees will have to adjust to their new lifestyle.
Microsoft has, in recent times, placed an enhanced focus on Europe, particularly Britain. The Old Continent has never been more important for the technology titan as it makes the shift from a plain old software company to a device and hardware business.
