Microsoft to give $1500 bonus go all employees, here’s why

It has been a remarkably difficult year for people all around the world. The last 18 months or so has seen the world being devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. During such tough times, tech giant Microsoft has announced that it will gift employees $1,500 (roughly Rs 1.12 lakh) to all its employees, as per an internal memo seen by The Verge. The Verge report says that Microsoft is giving employees this one-time bonus “in recognition of the unique and challenging fiscal year that Microsoft just completed.”
Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, announced the bonus for all employees yesterday. The bonus, as per the report, will be given to all eligible employees in the US as well as internationally. However, the bonus will be given to those employees who are below corporate vice president level. Even part-time Microsoft employees will be given the bonus.
Giving bonus to all its employees will cost Microsoft around $200 million. Overall, the company has about 1.75 lakh employees working for it across the world. The bonus, however, will not be handed to employees who work for LinkedIn, GitHub and ZeniMax, even though Microsoft owns the three companies.
A report by CNBC further suggests that the bonus is “part of an effort by technology companies to keep employees happy during the pandemic and make sure they stick around while many are still away from offices.” Recently, a trend has emerged that a lot of employees are quitting their jobs as offices reopen. Companies like Facebook, Amazon too have given some sort of financial incentives and rewards to their employees in the last one year.