Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines reveal salary, hiring bonus, and stock award ranges by level
Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines reveal salary, hiring bonus, and stock award ranges by level
The guidelines viewed by Insider show ranges for base pay, hiring bonuses, and annual stock awards but vary by role and location.
Leaked Microsoft pay guidelines reveal salary, hiring bonus, and stock award ranges by level::The guidelines viewed by Insider show ranges for base pay, hiring bonuses, and annual stock awards but vary by role and location.
Microsoft's pay guidelines for job offers:
Level 70:
Base pay: $231,700 to $361,500
On-hire stock awards: $310,000 default to $1.2 million with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $945,000
Level 69:
Base pay: $202,400 to $316,000
On-hire stock awards: $235,000 default to $1.1 million with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $750,000
Level 68:
Base pay: $186,200 to $291,000
On-hire stock awards: $177,000 default to $1 million with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $490,600
Level 67:
Base pay: $171,600 to $258,200
On-hire stock awards: $168,000 default to $700,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $336,000
Level 66:
Base pay: $157,300 to $236,300
On-hire stock awards: $75,000 default to $600,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $160,000
Level 65:
Base pay: $144,600 to $216,600
On-hire stock awards: $36,000 default to $300,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $90,000
Level 64:
Base pay: $125,000 to $187,700
On-hire stock awards: $24,000 default to $250,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $60,000
Level 63:
Base pay: $113,900 to $171,500
On-hire stock awards: $17,000 default to $200,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $44,000
Level 62:
Base pay: $103,700 to $156,400
On-hire stock awards: $11,000 default to $125,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $32,000
Level 61:
Base pay: $92,600 to $138,100
On-hire stock awards: $6,500 default to $75,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $24,000
Level 60:
Base pay: $83,500 to $125,000
On-hire stock awards: $4,500 default to $50,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $16,000
Level 59:
Base pay: $74,400 to $110,800
On-hire stock awards: $3,000 default to $30,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: $0 to $12,000
Level 58:
Base pay: $70,300 to $92,600
On-hire stock awards: $2,500 default to $20,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Level 57:
Base pay: $63,800 to $83,000
On-hire stock awards: $1,500 default to $10,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Level 56:
Base pay: $60,700 to $77,900
On-hire stock awards: $1,500 default to $10,000 with approval
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Level 55:
Base pay: $55,200 to $71,300
On-hire stock awards: N/A
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Level 54:
Base pay: $51,600 to $67,000
On-hire stock awards: N/A
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Level 53:
Base pay: $46,600 to $59,700
On-hire stock awards: N/A
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Level 52:
Base pay: $42,500 to $54,600
On-hire stock awards: N/A
Annual stock award range: "By career stage"
Wtf are these levels, do I have to get XP from pokemon battles?
I think you need to win against people in comparable level or above your level
Ranges don't mean much unless you know what they mean.
Corporate levels actually start at 59 (there is no level 1 for example). Levels below this are generally for things like data center employees and non-engineering roles. Also ranges for each level can vary wildly from one org to another. The greater your orgs impact increase the likelihood of being towards the top of a range. This is also not necessarily what you want to shoot for because bonuses are where the real money is long term.
The bonuses are given out in two “chunks”. Cash bonus in September, then stock bonus is spread out and vested over a 5 year period. So that $50k bonus is not a huge check at once but can grow to be massive.
I’m equivalent to level 69 :nice:
Paywall, and no complete dump of the ranges?
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It's unclear how broadly the guidelines apply, or whether they are just for one specific role or business, but the ranges provide a window into how Microsoft thinks about its various level designations.
The lowest was a $42,500 salary, with no hiring bonus and no guaranteed stock award.
There's also a level 80 for a "technical fellow," which is typically one of the highest-ranking executives at the company.
In 2022, when the economy was still booming, Microsoft granted an across-the board compensation raise for levels 67 and lower through larger stock grants, in response to growing internal dissatisfaction with compensation compared to competitors, and to stop employees from leaving for better pay, especially to Amazon.
As Insider previously reported, earlier this year, as the economy faltered, Microsoft froze base pay raises and cut its budget for bonuses and stock awards.
Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@insider.com).
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Will the level 80 "technical fellow" please stand up?
so you get hired at level 70 and get 310k of stock? Is this normal for large tech companies? Do you have to sign some kind of blood oath to
Bill Gatescurrent CEO Satya Nadella to say you will remain there for n years? Presumably you can't just get the stock and fuck off? Also, why is stock based compensation (potentially) so huge compared to base pay? Is this to make sure employees work extra super duper hard, or some way to reduce taxes?Level 70 corresponds to distinguished engineers, very few engineers have that level at MS (and Google etc). You don't get hired at that level unless you're already a computer science celebrity.
And yes you have to stick around because the 310k of stock will likely come with a vesting schedule, usually 4 years, i.e. you get 1/4 after one year and the rest gradually over the course of the 3 remaining years.
It's bigger than the base pay because stocks is basically the company printing money. Also it's only an initial grant, while the salary has to be paid every years until the contract is terminated.
You can assume contracts are involved in those c-level deals. Breaking contract usually involves renegotiating the shares to some degree. The stock options are certainly a means to consider them stakeholders so there is more incentive to produce.