Microsoft is offering $1,500 as pandemic bonus to all its employees, in recognition of a challenging fiscal year, The Verge reported.
Microsoft has 175,508 employees worldwide.
Microsoft is gifting the bonus to all staff below corporate vice president level that started on or before March 31, 2021.
It will also include part-time workers and those on hourly rates.
Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, announced the gift to employees, and it will apply to all eligible employees in both the US and internationally.
Employees of its subsidiaries 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.
Microsoft 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.
