According to an internal memo seen by The Verge, Microsoft will be giving eligible employees a pandemic bonus of $1,500. The software giant noted that the one-time bonus was made to recognize the unique and challenging fiscal year that was completed by the tech giant. The gift would be made to Microsoft parent employees but not to the separate companies it owns.

On Thursday, Kathleen Hogan, who is the chief people officer in the company, announced that the gift would be made to all eligible employees in the U.S. as well as globally. Staff whose positions are below corporate vice president level will be eligible for the bonus. They should have started working with Microsoft on or before March 31, 2021. Part time workers as well as workers who are paid hourly rates are also eligible.

The Verge also said that employees of separate companies under parent Microsoft including LinkedIn, GitHub and ZeniMax were not included in the bonus payout. Microsoft will be paying about $200 million to approximately 130,000 employees and this translates roughly into profits earned by the company in two days.

Microsoft has earned $160 billion in revenue since the beginning of the pandemic. Many businesses joined its cloud services which showed huge profits. Laptop sales and the usage of its flagship software Windows increased tremendously as the work-from-home model was adopted by billions worldwide. It also saw robust sales of Xbox as gaming became more popular than usual during lockdowns.

Microsoft also said that it has donated over $98 million to non-profits in Washington States. Its headquarters are in Redmond, Washington. The company said that an additional $60 million will also be disbursed by July.

Many other companies have given small or large bonuses, allowances to buy furniture and equipment to set up a home office and more. Some of them include:

• Amazon
• Walmart
• The Verge – $1000
• Facebook – $1000 each for its employees
• BT – approximately $2

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