The Scoop: Microsoft’s 2022 Compensation Numbers - Exclusive

An overview of what the Big Tech giant pays its software engineers, PMs, data scientists and designers in the US, India, Europe and the UK. Exclusive.

The Scoop is a bonus series, covering insights, patterns and trends I observe and hear about within Big Tech and at high-growth startups. Have a scoop to share? Send me a message! I treat all such messages as anonymous.

This issue is an exclusive, in-depth report about compensation at Microsoft. It comes shortly after the company announced its annual raises. We dig down into this topic, covering:

1. Salary raises at Microsoft. In May, Microsoft promised outsized raises for September. But did it deliver on them? We analyze numbers and statistics, reviewing and validating more than 2,000 self-reported data points, and details from managers working at the company. Which regions got the highest raises and which places missed out? What percentage raises did people who were promoted get, versus those overlooked for advancement up the ladder?

2. US and Canada: software engineer compensation. More than 700 data points, aggregated. Base salary, cash bonus, stock refresher and special stock award (SSA) numbers. How does the Seattle Area compare to other US regions?

3. US: data scientist, designer and hardware engineer compensation. A peek at these, based on more than 100 data points. How do they compare to software engineers?

4. International compensation numbers. India, western Europe and UK figures. Who’s earning close to $200,000 a year in India?

5. US: PMs, marketing and finance in the US. Product manager, program manager, finance and marketing numbers, with more than 250 data points. Are these functions paid less than what software engineers make at the same level?

6. Takeaways for hiring managers for budget reviews. How do Microsoft ranges compare to the rest of the market? If you’re responsible for budgets, what learnings can you take from how Microsoft has conducted its raises?

This newsletter comes with more hard numbers – and graphs! – than any previous issue of The Scoop. Let’s dive in!