According to the latest news, Microsoft is gifting its employees a pandemic bonus of $1,500. In an internal memo, Microsoft said this one time bonus “is in recognition of the unique and challenging fiscal year that Microsoft just completed.”
Today, Microsoft’s chief people officer, Kathleen Hogan, announced the gift for its employees. The bonus is applicable not only for the employees in the US but internationally. Microsoft will give this bonus to all staff below the corporate vice president level on the date 31st March 2021. It including part-time workers and those on hourly rates.
Microsoft revealed that it has 175,508 employees worldwide. The company clarified that LinkedIn, GitHub, and ZeniMax employees are not eligible for the bonus. It is a gift of around $200 million which is technically less than two days’ worth of profit for Microsoft.
Last year, Facebook gifted $1,000 each to 45,000 employees, Amazon gifted a $300 holiday bonus for frontline workers, BT gifted £1,500 each to 60,000 employees, and Vox Media gifted employees $1,000 each.
Microsoft said it has donated “more than $98 million of assistance to non-profits in Washington state” since the outbreak of coronavirus with plans to commit an additional $60 million support by July. Note that since the pandemic, Microsoft has generated at least $160 billion in revenue with the help of high sales figures in cloud services, laptops, and Xbox.
