- Microsoft managers use forms to request retention bonuses for employees they can’t afford to lose.
- One of these documents, viewed by BI, includes a field specific to employee AI contributions.
- Microsoft AI employees earn significantly more than their colleagues, according to payroll data seen by BI.
Some Microsoft executives may make more of an effort to retain talented employees with AI know-how, according to an internal document viewed by Business Insider.
Microsoft officials use these types of documents to justify retention bonuses. Prompts include questions such as “What harm will be caused if an employee leaves Microsoft?” »
Managers can request special stock or cash rewards to help them retain employees most important to the company’s strategy. One of these documents viewed by BI includes a separate field specific to employee contributions in AI.
“In the context of AI transformation as a key priority, please indicate whether this individual is a critical AI talent and share the risk to the AI initiative(s) if the talent is not retained,” asks Microsoft officials for the document.
This question was added to the document recently, according to a person familiar with the matter. It was prepared for a specific large group within Microsoft. However, it is unclear whether the AI issue is added to similar retention documents in other parts of the company.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company does not have a central form for special stock and money grant requests, and that organizations and teams can choose whether or not to add different fields. , according to their strategic priorities.
Still, adding the AI issue to this specific document suggests that the war for AI talent could push parts of Microsoft to do more to prevent poaching by rivals.
Google, OpenAI, Meta and other tech companies are racing to develop the most powerful AI models and the best generative AI tools, and they need employees who know the technical details of making these products. This has led to bidding wars for certain talent, as well as sometimes multi-million dollar compensation.
The company has already prioritized AI talent when it comes to compensation.
As of September, average compensation in Microsoft’s AI group was about 37% higher than the average for all of the company’s U.S. employees. Software engineers working in AI, for example, earned 48% more than the average company software engineer, according to a payroll spreadsheet shared with BI.
In 2023, during a leadership crisis at OpenAI, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott said the software giant would hire hundreds of OpenAI employees and match their current compensation.
He made the announcement amid job cuts and a pay freeze at Microsoft, which infuriated some employees.
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