The pandemic has hit some industries hard. And the tech industry is undeniably one of those struggling to stay afloat — the small tech companies at least. But not Microsoft. The big tech tycoon plans to give a $1,500 pandemic bonus to employees worldwide, amounting to around $200 million in total!
Small tech companies are one of the industries hard hit by the pandemic. There is a hindrance to business continuity planning due to the uncertainties that the pandemic offers. In addition to that, the pandemic means there will be fewer tech industry events, leading to fewer business development and opportunities. Moreover, as client transactions diminish, more and more tech companies are slowly shutting their doors or keeping their heads above water.
Microsoft’s jump in profits
While all the other small tech industries are trying to stay afloat, Microsoft seems to be experiencing a pandemic boon even when the coronavirus accelerated. Since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers in some industries have relied heavily on the cloud computing system as well as digital services.
According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, “digital adoption curves aren’t slowing down”. So this is the reason why Microsoft has seen a 44-percent jump in profits compared to last year. This amounted to around $15.5 billion in total earnings for this fiscal year. Microsoft also had a 19-percent increase in revenues, which reached $41.7 billion in the third quarter, an even better performance than last year.
Microsoft even beat the Wall Street analyst expectations of $41.05 billion as revenue projection for the big tech company. So what difference does a $200-million pandemic bonus make to the company’s bottom line?
Challenging fiscal year
However, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the big tech company. Microsoft says the pandemic bonus is due to the “unique and challenging fiscal year Microsoft just completed.”
Due to that, the software giant plans to give out a $1,500 bonus to all its employees in the United States and the rest of the world. Multiply that by the number of employees Microsoft has, which is 175,508, which amounts to exactly $263,262,000. This is a one-time monetary gift and profits that Microsoft can earn in less than a week.
Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, states that everyone below the corporate vice president level and hired before March 31st, 2021, will be eligible for the said bonus. This includes part-time workers as well as employees on hourly rates.
Big companies are pouring out bonuses
Microsoft isn’t the first big software company that plans to show generosity to its employees. Previous big companies such as Facebook and Amazon have also showered their employees with surprising monetary gifts even during the pandemic.
Facebook had also given out a pandemic bonus to all of its 45,000 employees at $1,000 each. This is to help them fight against the toils of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, Zuckerberg promised to give out full bonuses after their six-month review.
Moreover, Amazon is one company that’s extra generous last year. The eCommerce giant also gave a $300 bonus to employees during the holiday season. This is in appreciation for their continued hard work coming into the holidays. Part-time workers who were also hired from December 1 to 30 will also receive a $150 bonus.
Microsoft employees must be nothing short of excited with this news. As the pandemic wreaks havoc on other personal and business aspects, at least Microsoft workers have a $1,500-allowance to use for whatever purpose.
