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Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

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Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#301

Post by doctor_eval »

tombert wrote: post #297
deanCommie wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 Million dollar bump 220,000 microsoft employees Assuming each was in line to get more than a 5$ raise (obviously), the bonus to the CEO MORE than offsets the cost saved to the employees. From a financial perspective, a bonus to the CEO makes perfect sense. Welcome to capitalism.

Not really. If the CEO was in charge of the direction of the company, and that direction was so bad that they have to make major layoffs and cuts, then they shouldn't be rewarded for this. This isn't a fucking game. These are human lives. Microsoft laid off 10,000 humans [1] because their idiotic CEO decided it would be a really good idea to overhire like crazy in 2021 and 2022. This was the wrong decision and now th…

I agree wholeheartedly with every point you make, except this:

> This isn't a fucking game

That is *exactly* what it is to these people, and I don't doubt that they make use of game theory to make some of these decisions.

Until the rules of the game change, nothing will.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#302

Post by paulpauper »

For the quarter that ended on March 31, Microsoft posted revenue of $52.9 billion (up 7%) and a profit of $18.3 billion (up 9%). Microsoft had $26.5 billion in cash and equivalents as of March 31. Despite the rosy results, Microsoft employees are not getting pay increases. Nadella's own pay increased 10% from 2021 to 2022, rising to $55 million.

This comes off as shortsighted. If I wanted to optimize value, I would offer more incentives for employees to perform better. It's not even a political issue. Just a matter of decency and fairness.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#303

Post by Nimitz14 »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #21
dig1 wrote: post #10

Yet CEO's bonus in 2022 was 20x bigger than his salary. I don't think it will be less this year either; with all-time high stock price and these "cost cuts", he will be wholesomely rewarded.

This kind of comment woups not have been here like 3 years ago. It was an amazing journey to watch HN denisens adjust their opinions as they went from creme de la creme and 'anyone can create a unicorn tonorrow' to, you know, being basically like a plumber but for JSON.

Happens with every community as it gets larger. Guess the right thing to do is try and create/join invite only groups

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#304

Post by doctor_eval »

foogazi wrote: post #286
bruce511 wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking, holding (significant to you) stock in your employer is a bad strategy. Because if the company goes under you lose your job, and your savings at the same time. In other words it consolidates risk rather than diversifies it. But honestly the idea that you don't need a raise but rather invest and wait for a dividend return is bonkers. Those are to completely unrelated things. By all means invest. The…

> Because if the company goes under Microsoft is not going under

It doesn't have to go under under, it just has to go under the price you purchased at.

The chance of you being laid off after a stock price fall is most likely correlated.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#305

Post by cat_plus_plus »

Even the biggest corporate CEOs get confused by socialist talk and end up recreating some of socialist inefficiencies in their own companies. Why would I invest exceptional effort or take risk working on far fetched projects if exceptional success in terms of market share or profits will not be rewarded? If I am good, I can work 6 hours a day and still be the most productive employee on the team. How does one-fit-all compensation policy motivate me to do more or to stay on rather than finding a place that will pay me to be productive to my full potential?

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#306

Post by lumost »

paulpauper wrote: post #302

For the quarter that ended on March 31, Microsoft posted revenue of $52.9 billion (up 7%) and a profit of $18.3 billion (up 9%). Microsoft had $26.5 billion in cash and equivalents as of March 31. Despite the rosy results, Microsoft employees are not getting pay increases. Nadella's own pay increased 10% from 2021 to 2022, rising to $55 million. This comes off as shortsighted. If I wanted to optimize value, I would o…

The economy is unstable, meaning we may only make 5% more profit next year. Layoffs and pay freezes will continue.

There are two ways this pans out. Either big tech is bloated, and wages will fall over time - or current big-techs will flounder as smaller firms out compete them. This happened to HP/IBM and others, why would Google or Microsoft be immune?

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#307

Post by tombert »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #291
king_magic wrote: post #271

Pretty impossible to respect a CEO that takes a 10% bump but cuts off raises for everyone else. Honestly, just disgusting.

Does anyone still actually have much respect for executive levels of big corporations? All I ever see is more and more naked greed and talking down to employees as if we are idiots that cannot see through their BS. Like all of the return to office stuff. We all know it's not about "in-person collaboration", but that's the line they think we're most likely to swallow.

I've always thought they were greedy, but one thing that these recent layoffs have really illuminated for me was how utterly stupid these executives are. I guess I had just assumed that Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai were smart guys...why else would they be in charge of these huge corporations?

But then the layoffs happened, and they both gave a big song and dance about how they're "taking responsibility" (whatever the hell that actually means), and that these were "tough decisions" to fire tens of thousands of people.

It shouldn't require a 10,000 IQ to think that maybe hiring thousands of more people than you actually need is a bad idea, and if they couldn't see shit like this coming, then what value are they actually bringing to company? Vague truisms and platitudes about how they regret having to uproot peoples' lives?

ETA:

Some of the responses might have proven me wrong. These executives might not actually be idiots, just sociopaths. My bad.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#308

Post by Firmwarrior »

Man oh man. Microsoft really just has no interest in keeping motivated and talented people around. The brain drain is going to ramp up even more from here

If you're still at MSFT: do yourself a favor and jump ship. It's a good job, but there are even better jobs out there. Just tell the recruiter when you get your new job offer that you've been drinking $5,000 a year's worth of free soda, and you'll need them to match that with a cash bump.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#309

Post by andrei_says_ »

paulpauper wrote: post #302

For the quarter that ended on March 31, Microsoft posted revenue of $52.9 billion (up 7%) and a profit of $18.3 billion (up 9%). Microsoft had $26.5 billion in cash and equivalents as of March 31. Despite the rosy results, Microsoft employees are not getting pay increases. Nadella's own pay increased 10% from 2021 to 2022, rising to $55 million. This comes off as shortsighted. If I wanted to optimize value, I would o…

It’s because they can. Decency and fairness are immaterial in the context of profit.

The only correcting force in my opinion would be a strong union. But unionizing is quite risky and legitimately scary for highly paid employees.

Thus, divided we fall.

Re: Microsoft Freezes Salaries for 2023

#310

Post by musha68k »

bagels wrote: post #157
diversionfactor wrote: post #106

And yet, at exactly this time last year: "Microsoft to Nearly Double Salary Budgets, Expand Stock Compensation" https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensatio... So they are freezing after the doubling? This behavior seems skittish and an overreaction, especially given their continued profitability and high margins. Corporate executive behavior reminds me of interacting with ChatGPT: Exec: "What should…

It's about leverage, with all the faang layoffs, they now don't have to pay as much for employees.

The situation is completely unhinged as more than 50 percent of inflation has been found to be driven by corporate profits.

WSJ (article): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35795299

WSJ journalist (interview): https://youtu.be/gaO4rAJEnBc

US Rep. Katie Porter (congress hearing): https://youtu.be/hIuA5MNs87A

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