Microsoft India salary hikes: 91% get 5% or less as tech giant rolls out voluntary buyout
More than 9 in 10 Microsoft employees in India received salary increases of 5% or less during the 2026 appraisal cycle, according to a recent survey by the professional networking platform Blind.
The muted increments coincide with the tech giant reporting record profits and rolling out a voluntary buyout programme impacting tens of thousands of workers globally.
According to the Blind survey of 2,178 India-based professionals, 91% of Microsoft respondents reported receiving a 5% or less increase this year, a sharp increase from 45% a year earlier. Only 5% of employees received raises exceeding 10%, down significantly from 27% last year.
86% of Microsoft respondents, the survey said, expressed dissatisfaction with their increments, making the tech giant one of the lowest-rated employers, second only to Zoho.
The subdued pay hikes stand in sharp contrast to Microsoft's stellar financial performance. The company recently reported a 32% year-on-year surge in net income to $36.6 billion for the July-September quarter, driven by a 19% climb in revenue to $92.3 billion. Microsoft Cloud revenue jumped 30% to $63.9 billion, while Azure revenue grew by 48%.
Looking ahead, Microsoft expects current-quarter revenue to reach up to $97.1 billion and plans to allocate over $50 billion in capital expenditure to heavily fund its AI infrastructure.
According to the report, Microsoft's Chief People Officer Amy Coleman recently announced a Voluntary Exit Offer (VEO) covering approximately 60,000 employees globally, including staff in India, the US, Canada, and the UK.
Eligible employees at level 70 and below have until early December to opt into the programme.
This buyout push has shifted employee focus from compensation to job preservation.
Blind reported that searches by Indian users related to buyouts and voluntary exit programmes surged by 60% over the past year. Searches for layoffs and severance also rose from 16% to 21%, while interest in hikes, raises, and pay freezes declined by 7%.
The trend reflects broader anxieties across the Indian technology sector, where employees increasingly feel that corporate priorities are overshadowing individual performance.
The survey found that 41% of respondents attributed their appraisal outcomes to the company's financial performance and cost-cutting efforts, while 18% pointed to shifting business priorities related to AI and automation. Only 22% believed individual performance ratings were the primary factor behind their hike.
Overall, 35% of Indian tech workers reported receiving no hike or a pay cut this year, and 59% received raises of 5% or less. Nearly two-thirds of the broader tech workforce expressed dissatisfaction with their annual increments.
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer
Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More
✕
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.