Technology major, Microsoft has announced to give all of its employees $1,500 (over Rs 1.12 lakh) pandemic bonus, in recognition of a challenging fiscal year.
According to The Verge report, Microsoft is gifting the bonus to all staff below the Corporate Vice President level that started on or before March 31, 2021. The company will also include part-time workers and those on hourly rates.
“Kathleen Hogan, Chief People Officer, Microsoft announced the gift to employees today, and it will apply to all eligible employees in both the US and internationally,” The Verge report said on Thursday. Microsoft has 175,508 employees worldwide.
The report also said that employees of its subsidiaries like LinkedIn, GitHub, and ZeniMax are not eligible for the pandemic bonus.
“It’s a gift of around $200 million, or less than two days’ worth of profit for Microsoft”. Earlier, Facebook gifted its 45,000 employees $1,000 each, and Amazon gave $300-holiday bonus for frontline workers.
The tech giant has announced to delay the reopening of its offices till September, after it stated to slowly reopen Redmond, Washington-based headquarters and nearby campuses from March 29 with a six-stage hybrid workplace strategy.
Currently, Microsoft work sites in 21 countries have been able to accommodate additional workers in its facilities – representing around 20 per cent of its global employee population.