World's largest tech conglomerate Microsoft reportedly will not give salary hikes to its full-time employees this year and is reducing the budget for bonuses and stock awards. The insider reported on Wednesday, citing an internal email by CEO Satya Nadella.
However, there is no official comment or press release on the matter by the company.
In the mail, Nadella wrote, "Last year, we made a significant investment in compensation driven by market conditions and company performance, nearly doubling our global merit budget. This year the economic conditions are very different across many dimensions."
In January this year, Microsoft announced to lay off 10000 employees, adding to the trend of thousands of layoffs announced across the tech sector as it deals with slow growth in a turbulent economy.
Microsoft has now squarely placed its focus on generative AI, a bright spot for the industry.
In partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Microsoft has been infusing AI tech into its MS Office products and search engine Bing.
