Microsoft Reportedly Cutting Back on Raises, Bonuses and Stock Awards

Microsoft is reportedly cutting back on raises, bonuses and stock awards due to the state of the economy.

The tech giant is skipping raises for full-time employees and reducing bonuses and stock awards, Seeking Alpha reported Wednesday (May 10), citing an internal email obtained by Insider.

Reached for comment by PYMNTS, a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “As a company, we recognize that navigating both a dynamic economic environment and a major platform shift requires us to make critical decisions in how we invest in our people, our business and our future. As part of that effort, we are funding our compensation to align with the overall market. While we will not be providing salary increases for our full-time salaried employees this year, we will continue to invest in our employees through promotions, bonus and stock.”

This report comes two days after Microsoft-owned LinkedIn announced it would shut down its Chinese jobs app and cut 716 positions amid slowing growth.

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said in a Monday (May 8) letter to employees that while the networking platform was “making meaningful progress creating economic opportunities for our members and customers and experiencing record engagement on the platform, we’re also seeing shifts in customer behavior and slower revenue growth.”

The news also comes a month after it was reported that Microsoft rival Apple is cutting costs by delaying some bonuses, limiting hiring and reducing travel — though not making deep cuts and layoffs like its peers.

Apple is now giving annual bonuses to divisions at the company that used to receive them twice a year; limiting hiring and leaving more positions empty when employees depart; and requiring approval for travel budgets from a higher level of executive than it used to take, Bloomberg reported March 14.

Three months before that, in January, Microsoft announced that it would lay off 10,000 workers — a little under 5% of its staff — saying this is a time of “significant” changes.

“First, as we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we’re now seeing them optimize their digital spend to do more with less,” Nadella said in a Jan. 18 message to employees. “We’re also seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one.”