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1 year ago
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A leaked document outlining Microsoft's pay guidance has revealed how the firm's top employees can earn millions of dollars per year.
The top band in the leaked document - used by hiring managers to decide how much to offer new hires - had a base salary of up to $361,500, an on-hire bonus of up to $1.2 million, and an annual stock award of up to $945,000.
That rank is applicable to members of the company who are 'partners', with higher tiers believed to pay even more but not included in the leaked memo.
Microsoft's pay guidelines, detailed in the leak originally viewed by Business Insider, have the starting salary for the lowest ranking employees covered by the memo - rank 52 - at $42,500.
At that end of the spectrum, ordered by seniority and experience, employees receive no on-hire bonus and have a discretionary annual stock award based on their 'career stage'.
A leaked memo of Microsoft payment guidelines shows the company's top employees can earn around a million dollars per year in bonuses alone. Pictured: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
The document outlined the recommended pay for new staff of different seniorities ranging from salaries of $42,500 to $361,500
An example of employees in the top bracket in the leak - rank 70 - would be a 'distinguished engineer'. However, it is not clear how many employees of this level Microsoft has.
Individual cases can see levels as high as rank 80, such as 'technical fellow', but these are not outlined in the pay guidance memo, and are likely near-unique positions.
These guidelines do not even cover cash bonuses, separate from annual stock awards, which according to an insider can be as high as 90% of base payt.
This expense is made despite the company announcing that from January it would be laying off 10,000 employees by the end of the third fiscal quarter - September 30.
Further job cuts in customer service, support and sales in the business were revealed in July.
Additionally, it was reported in May that Microsoft had frozen all base pay to help fund its shift towards AI.
It is unclear how broadly the leaked guidelines apply, such as if they are for one specific role or business.
Additionally, the salaries of employees are known to vary based on location with those in New York, for example, paid relatively more to account for the increased cost of living there.
Whether or not that is incorporated into the ranges given for each rank - for example, level 63, a 'senior' rank, has an advised base pay from $113,900 to $171,5000 - is unclear too.
Microsoft have declined to comment on the story.
