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Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

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Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And do these “thousand of employees” pay what Microsoft is paying?

Its not hard to beat microsoft packages, they've been under market rate for a while

So name 10 companies that are paying what Microsoft is paying that are profitable and haven’t announced layoffs?

And that doesn’t include meaningless “equity” in a private company.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#462

$18.3B in profit is pretty amazing by anyone’s standard. Especially with no pay bumps following. 20-30 years from now this will be used as a reference in history as an indication of how completely fucked up the world’s economy was at this time in history. It’s a signal. It’s a warning. It’s a sign of where we are heading. Only time will allow it to unfold. The typical naysayers can only be proven wrong with time and…

This is literally what everyone else has been living outside of silicon valley for decades. Shitty raises, no raises, pay cuts or raises that don't keep up with inflation. This has literally always been the reply reality of the average American worker.

Give it 10 years and we'll have actual walkouts for a company that slashes worker pay in the face of huge inflation, unaffordable housing, and record profits. The older generations that still drink the company koolaid are holding back the most pro union generations ever. Its sites like this which contain illogical hero worship of the investor class that keep workers from knowing their value.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#463
post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you say it was a bad idea? Why do you think it didn't work out exactly as planned?

I mean, it feels almost self-evident that you shouldn't hire more people than you need; if you don't need them then that's not an efficient use of resources. Now, it's possible they hired all these people in anticipation of future needs, which is fair, but it doesn't take a hyper-genius to know that markets fluctuate, particularly after a global pandemic. So at this point, either Satya Nadella is so stupid that he di…

hind sight is 20/20. I'm not saying tech CEOs are psychopaths or anything. IMHO they are just incompetent and not worth the salary they receive which is often 500X the average employee.

In fact they remind me of financial advisors who charge you regardless of whether they make you or lose you money and are all consistently worse than passive investment in the long run.

That's how I feel about these overpaid CEOs. They are worth orders of magnitude less than they are paid

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#464
post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This hurts junior employees the most. Tenured employees have equity as a large part of their comp, they are invested in the stock price, not the few % annual bump.

Not really true for Microsoft. At Microsoft we generally do not get significant new stock grants or refresh grants, even on promotion no new stock is granted often. This may be different for principal engineers or certainly partner level folks - but senior engineers with more than 4 years of tenure will have essentially no significant stock to vest.

I'm still new at the company, but it seems like promotions are basically (at best) the accumulated COLA adjustments one ought to have been given, but they make it seem like some performance-based thing.

Indeed, I have a RSU vesting schedule 4 years from hire. It is financially unwise to stay beyond that on-hire grant vesting period, it seems.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wages can simply stay flat and that’s a 5% decrease due to inflation

People keep quoting this as religion. Making up numbers: If I only spend 50% of my take home and part of that 50% is going toward my fixed rate mortgage, is my spending power down by 5%?

If inflation on what you spend your money on is 10%, then yes.

The price for eating out has increased 15% in a single year. Its not hyperbole. Also this assumes someone who's able to afford a mortgage

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#467

I wrote up some notes on my observed realities on how mid-size and up tech companies approach compensation: https://glenngillen.com/sensible-remote-compensation/ Employees have a mistaken belief that if profits are high they get to share in the spoils, they won't. Shareholders are who get those rewards. Either via increased valuation, dividends, buybacks, or all of the above. The only exception to that would be emplo…

What resources can you recommend to learn how to advocate strongly in this context?

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#469
post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really true for Microsoft. At Microsoft we generally do not get significant new stock grants or refresh grants, even on promotion no new stock is granted often. This may be different for principal engineers or certainly partner level folks - but senior engineers with more than 4 years of tenure will have essentially no significant stock to vest.

I'm still new at the company, but it seems like promotions are basically (at best) the accumulated COLA adjustments one ought to have been given, but they make it seem like some performance-based thing. Indeed, I have a RSU vesting schedule 4 years from hire. It is financially unwise to stay beyond that on-hire grant vesting period, it seems.

The A in COLA is adjustments. COLA Adjustments is like SQL Language or ATM Machine.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#470

With the rate of inflation and interest rates going up, salaried workers need a cost of living adjustment at the very least, even if we forget about a bonus or a big pay hike. This decision is unethical to full-time employees seeing the tidy profit they made. It's a clear signal to the employees not to expect any practical reward for hard work, what a great way to motivate people. This is yet another large and powerf…

> salaried workers need a cost of living adjustment at the very least Software engineers are some of the most priviledged workers in the west when it comes to compensation and perks. We need to stop talking about them like they are road construction workers here on HN. it is really out of touch

Maybe it's different in other places, but have you seen the paychecks of some construction workers? Sure they are working in potentially hazardous conditions, but the pay can be about the same for similarly tenured workers.

It's important to remember that if you're working for a living, you're still working class.

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