On Thursday Microsoft’s chief people officer, Kathleen Hogan, announced that Microsoft is gifting its employees worldwide, and most non-executive employees are eligible.
According to The Verge, the software giant says this one-time bonus “is in recognition of the unique and challenging fiscal year that Microsoft just completed.”
All staff below the corporate vice president level that started on or before 31 March 2021, including part-time workers and those on hourly rates, qualify to receive the bonus.
Other Microsoft companies won’t be included
Despite Microsoft owning LinkedIn, GitHub, and ZeniMax, employees from these companies are not eligible for the bonus. An estimated amount of $20 million (almost R300 million) will equal this gift, which is probably two days’ worth of profit for Microsoft, according to The Verge.
Other companies who gave their employees a pandemic bonus
Over the past year, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, other companies gave their employees a similar gift.
Facebook gave $1000 (R14 267,59) to each and every one of 45 000 employees. Last year, full-time employees of Facebook took over work done by contractors so that they could stay at home during that time, and the company still paid the contractors even though they were not working. Other employees were asked to work from home.
Amazon gave its frontline employees a $300 (R42 820,38) holiday bonus.
Microsoft donates to nonprofits
Microsoft says it has also donated more than $98 million (more than R1 billion) of assistance to nonprofits in Washington state since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with plans to commit an additional $60 million (close to R1 billion) in support by July.
In 2019, Microsoft provided United Way of King County’s Home Base program with a $5 million (close to R72 million) grant for eviction prevention.
Since the pandemic started, Microsoft has generated at least $160 billion (over R2 trillion) in revenue, according to The Verge. This comes from a mix of businesses flocking to cloud services, a boost in laptop sales and Windows usage, and strong Xbox growth.
