Microsoft epitomizes a familiar dichotomy in tech: layoffs on the one hand and big paydays for AI talent on the other.
Microsoft has invested massively in AI, spending billions on its flagship Copilot tool. It's also the largest investor in OpenAI, even as the relationship has shown some cracks.
The tech giant is urging staff to use internal AI tools more frequently and also allows managers to offer retention bonuses to employees, including those who contribute to AI initiatives, per an internal document obtained by Business Insider.
A spreadsheet obtained by Business Insider in 2024 showed that employees within Microsoft's AI organization were making more than their non-AI colleagues.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced multiple rounds of layoffs this year, affecting thousands of employees. It has also sought to weed out low performers, including with performance improvement plans that include payout offers.
Some of the layoffs have included traditional sales staff in favor of technical salespeople to better sell AI tools. The shift comes as Microsoft faces increased competition from Google and even its partner OpenAI for enterprise AI customers.
The company is still hiring, though. While Microsoft keeps compensation information close to the vest, publicly available work visa data glimpses the kind of pay it can offer employees. The figures only refer to foreign hires and only account for base pay, not the bonuses and stock awards that employees also receive.
We looked at the roles where Microsoft most frequently hired from abroad. Software engineers can make as much as $284,000 in base salary, and product managers can pull in as much as $250,000.
Microsoft subsidiary LinkedIn is also hiring foreign workers, including within the AI subset of machine learning. A senior software engineer in machine learning at LinkedIn can make as much as $278,000, while a staff software engineer in machine learning can take home as much as $336,000.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Here's what Microsoft is paying across key roles, based on roughly 5,400 applications from the first quarter of 2025.
Microsoft software engineers can take home up to $284,000
Applied Sciences: $127,200 to $261,103
Business Analytics: $159,300 to $191,580
Business Planning: $117,200 to $201,900
Business Program Management: $102,380 to $195,100
Cloud Network Engineering: $122,700 to $220,716
Cloud Solution Architecture: $130,000 to $207,285
Construction Project Management: $150,000 to $193,690
Customer Experience Engineering: $126,422 to $239,585
Customer Experience Program Management: $141,865 to $201,508
Customer Solutions Architecture: $122,730 to $225,000
Data Analytics: $132,385 to $205,000
Data Center Operations Management: $115,000 to $176,900
Data Engineering: $144,855 to $264,000
Data Science: $121,200 to $274,500
Demand Planning: $147,000 to $204,550
Digital Cloud Solution Architecture: $155,085 to $217,589
Electrical Engineering: $138,995 to $247,650
Financial Analysis: $91,100 to $213,800
Hardware Engineering: $136,000 to $270,641
Product Design: $125,100 to $208,058
Product Management: $122,800 to $250,000
Product Marketing: $113,350 to $213,200
Research Sciences: $146,054 to $208,000
Research, Applied and Data Sciences: $85,821 to $208,800
Service Engineering: $130,080 to $182,500
Silicon Engineering: $116,334 to $275,000
Site Reliability Engineering: $135,100 to $236,670
Software Engineering: $82,971 to $284,000
Solution Area Specialists: $144,000 to $209,300
Supply Planning: $131,300 to $193,270
Technical Program Management: $120,900 to $238,000
Technical Support Advisory: $114,290 to $153,984
Technical Support Engineering: $80,371 to $176,606
Technology Specialists: $168,800 to $200,000
UX Research: $138,560 to $177,148
LinkedIn staff software engineers in machine learning can make up to $336,000
Manager, Software Engineering: $197,185 to $301,000
Product Manager: $141,000 to $252,000
Software Engineer: $108,826 to $205,000
Software Engineer, Machine Learning: $135,000 to $231,000
Software Engineer, Systems Infrastructure: $135,000 to $231,000
Senior Software Engineer: $121,000 to $249,000
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning: $154,000 to $278,000
Senior Software Engineer, Systems Infrastructure: $144,000 to $278,000
Staff Software Engineer: $158,000 to $301,000
Staff Software Engineer, Machine Learning: $190,486 to $336,000
Staff Software Engineer, Systems Infrastructure: $190,486 to $336,000
