Microsoft salaries revealed: How much the tech giant pays software engineers, product managers, and more
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
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
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
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
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
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Why Chipotle (CMG) Shares Are Plunging Today
What Happened? Shares of mexican fast-food chain Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) fell 13.6% in the afternoon session after the company reported disappointing second-quarter results and cut its full-year sales forecast, citing a challenging consumer environment. The fast-casual chain's comparable-restaurant sales fell by 4% in the second quarter, a steeper decline than analysts had anticipated. This drop was primarily driven by a 4.9% decrease in customer transactions, indicating fewer people visited its stores. While total revenue rose 3% to $3.1 billion, it fell slightly short of Wall Street estimates. The most significant concern for investors was the company's revised outlook. Chipotle now projected its full-year comparable sales to be 'approximately flat,' a sharp downgrade from its previous forecast of 'low-single-digit' growth. Management attributed the weaker performance and outlook to ongoing volatility in consumer spending. The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Chipotle? Access our full analysis report here, it's free. What Is The Market Telling Us Chipotle's shares are not very volatile and have only had 5 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Chipotle and indicate this news significantly impacted the market's perception of the business. The previous big move we wrote about was 17 days ago when the stock dropped 3.4% on the news that the major indices pulled back (Nasdaq -0.8%, S&P 500 -0.77%), largely due to escalating concerns surrounding the July 9th deadline for new US tariffs, now amplified by specific announcements. Earlier in the day, President Trump confirmed that Japan and South Korea would face new 25% tariffs on their imports to the US, effective August 1st. These announcements came ahead of the broader July 9th expiration of a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, which failed to produce comprehensive trade deals with most nations. This action against two major trading partners, coupled with the ongoing threat of further tariffs on countries associated with the BRICS bloc, injected significant uncertainty and apprehension into global markets. Investors were likely reacting to the increased costs for businesses, potential disruptions to global supply chains, and the broader implications for international trade relations. Chipotle is down 24% since the beginning of the year, and at $45.52 per share, it is trading 31.2% below its 52-week high of $66.16 from December 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Chipotle's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,013. Today's young investors likely haven't read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Meta names ChatGPT co-creator as chief scientist of Superintelligence Lab
By Echo Wang NEW YORK (Reuters) -Meta Platforms has appointed Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGPT, as chief scientist of its Superintelligence Lab, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday, as the company accelerates its push into advanced AI. "In this role, Shengjia will set the research agenda and scientific direction for our new lab working directly with me and Alex," Zuckerberg wrote in a Threads post, referring to Meta's Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, who Zuckerberg hired from startup Scale AI when Meta took a big stake in it. Zhao, a former research scientist at OpenAI, co-created ChatGPT, GPT-4 and several of OpenAI's mini models, including 4.1 and o3. He is among several researchers who have moved from OpenAI to Meta in recent weeks, part of a broader talent arms race as Zuckerberg aggressively hires from rivals to close the gap in advanced AI. Meta has been offering some of Silicon Valley's most lucrative pay packages and striking startup deals to attract top researchers, a strategy that follows the underwhelming performance of its Llama 4 model. Meta launched the Superintelligence Lab recently to consolidate work on its Llama models and long‑term artificial general intelligence ambitions. Zhao is a co-founder of the lab, according to the Threads post, which operates separately from FAIR, Meta's established AI research division led by deep learning pioneer Yann LeCun. Zuckerberg has said Meta aims to build 'full general intelligence' and release its work as open source — a strategy that has drawn both praise and concern within the AI community.
TechCrunch
an hour ago
- TechCrunch
Tesla wants to bring its robotaxis to San Francisco. Here is what's standing in the way.
Tesla is launching an even-more-limited version of its early robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekend, according to Business Insider, after an initial rollout began last month in Austin, Texas. The company plans to send invites to Tesla owners to test the service, according to the report. Depending on how and if Tesla proceeds, its actions could violate state regulations — and even if there's a human safety driver sitting behind the wheel while its vehicles operate autonomously. Two state agencies regulate aspects of autonomous vehicles in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles, and requires permits for all three stages: testing with a driver, testing without a driver, and driverless deployment. Tesla holds a permit for testing autonomous vehicles with a human safety operator behind the wheel. It doesn't have a permit for driverless testing or deployment. And as of Wednesday it had not yet applied for additional permits, according to the DMV. (Mercedes-Benz, Nuro, and Waymo are the only three companies that hold driverless deployment permits.) Nor does Tesla have the proper permits from the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates the commercial aspects of ride-hailing and chartered transportation by humans as well as those steered by autonomous vehicle systems. Tesla has a Transportation Charter Party permit, which allows a human driver to drive a traditional vehicle (not an AV) for charter services with the public, CPUC spokesperson Terrie Prosper told TechCrunch in an email. Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW This is distinctly different from an autonomous vehicle permit for passenger transportation, according to Prosper. So-called AV authorizations, which Tesla doesn't have, allows for the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles with or without a driver. Tesla has not received approval from the CPUC to offer autonomous passenger service to customers, paid or unpaid, with or without a driver (nor has the company applied), Prosper explained in the email. Tesla also doesn't hold a 'Drivered Pilot AV permit' from the CPUC, so it cannot even use an autonomous vehicle with a human operator behind the wheel for passenger service. This means that if Tesla deploys its robotaxis and the autonomous systems are engaged it will be violating state regulations even if the rides are free and there is a human safety operator behind the wheel. The push into California comes as the DMV is currently trying to stop Tesla from selling vehicles in the state as part of a years-long lawsuit over the promises the company has made about its cars' self-driving abilities. Tesla is also currently on trial in a lawsuit over deaths related to the use of its less-capable driver assistance system, Autopilot. Tesla has been running an invite-only version of its robotaxi service in Austin since June 22. It's so far been a far cry from what Musk has spent years teasing. The service is mostly limited to Austin's downtown core and main corridors. There is a safety operator in the front passenger seat who can intervene if the car is about to do something wrong or dangerous. While the service launched with around 10 vehicles, it's not clear how many Model Y SUVs are in operation in the city, nor is it clear how many times those safety operators have had to intervene. That's a long way from the 'general solution' that Musk said Tesla was working on for a decade. Musk was once so confident in the autonomous software Tesla was developing that he said it would take a car from Los Angeles to New York — a stunt that never happened. Musk said this week that Tesla is also trying to expand to Florida and Arizona. TechCrunch reported earlier this month that Tesla had begun the required certification process to test and operate with and without a driver in Arizona.
