Microsoft employees are actively participating in the advocacy for salary transparency, with hundreds of employees voluntarily sharing their compensation information in a shared spreadsheet. To date, this spreadsheet has collected over 850 data entries, including base salaries, bonuses, and stock rewards.
As Microsoft competes globally for top artificial intelligence talent, salary competition has become particularly important. This year, Microsoft introduced new salary guidelines, offering compensation packages worth millions of dollars for AI experts hired from companies such as Meta.
Although Microsoft has laid off thousands of employees in the past year, the company's management stated that the overall number of employees will remain unchanged, indicating that its recruitment plans are still ongoing. According to an analysis by Business Insider, data from nearly 300 Microsoft employees who identified themselves as software engineers in the United States were used to assess salary levels across different levels and departments.
It should be noted that these salary data were voluntarily submitted anonymously by employees, and therefore lack official certification, and the data may have limitations. As of June 30, Microsoft had a total of 228,000 employees, so the current sample size is only a small portion. In addition, employees with higher salaries may be less likely to participate in such information sharing, which could affect the accuracy of the overall salary range.
The analysis by Business Insider also excluded levels and teams with fewer records, as well as those that might contain large amounts of erroneous data. Although salaries in the technology industry are mostly based on stocks, base salaries remain an effective way for companies to evaluate compensation within different teams.
According to the data provided by the spreadsheet, the average base salaries in different departments at Microsoft are as follows:
- Cloud + AI: $204,135
- Commerce + Ecosystems: $191,597
- Security: $189,285
- Azure: $176,035
- Experiences and Devices: $175,123
- Microsoft AI: $170,456
- Xbox: $168,831
- CoreAI: $167,759
This exposure of salary data undoubtedly provides valuable reference information for job seekers considering joining Microsoft.
Key points:
- 💰 More than 850 salary data shared by Microsoft employees aim to increase salary transparency.
- 🌐 To attract top AI talent, Microsoft has introduced high salary packages worth millions of dollars.
- 📊 Average base salary by department: The Cloud + AI department has an average salary exceeding $200,000.
