Microsoft to skip pay raises for salaried employees this year

Microsoft will not give any raise to salaried employees, including senior leaders, this year as global macroeconomic conditions continue to haunt Big Tech.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told employees in a meme, seen by The Verge, that only hourly workers will receive raises this year.

"We are clear that we are helping drive a major platform shift in this new era of AI, and doing so in a dynamic, competitive environment while also facing global macroeconomic uncertainties," Nadella told employees.

"We must maintain a leadership position in our at-scale businesses of today, generating enough yield to invest and lead in the next wave, while staying on the frontiers of both performance and efficiency," he added.

Microsoft will still offer salaried employees bonuses and stock awards, according to the report.

Senior leadership team, including Nadella, will not get salary increases and receive only lower annual performance-based bonuses.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced to lay off 10,000 employees across the company.

In January, Nadella announced that the company will be "making changes that will result in the reduction of our overall workforce by 10,000 jobs through the end of FY23 Q3 (third quarter)".

Microsoft had more than 220,000 employees, and layoffs affected around 5 per cent of its workforce.

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn also laid off 716 employees, as the company made changes to its Global Business Organisation (GBO) and shut its InCareer app in China.