In the midst of the layoffs, Microsoft announced that employees will have unlimited vacation: what’s behind it

Hours before announcing the layoff of 10,000 workers worldwide, the tech giant Microsoft will change its vacation policy and offer to employees unlimited free time, being able to choose the days of vacation when they want. The tech firm talks about “discretionary time off” for these workers applying from January 16.

The person in charge of announcing this new employment policy was the personnel director, Kathleen Hogan. The manager has sent an email to employees, although it will only apply to those who have a full-time day off, as published by the site The Verge.

“How, when and where we do our work has changed dramatically,” the manager explains in the message. Hogan argues that “modernizing vacation policy towards a more flexible model is a natural step.”

Full-time workers in the US will benefit from the changes. Sure, seniority will not be taken into consideration in the company. Even new hires will be able to take advantage of this “discretionary leave” without having to accumulate vacation days.

In addition to implementing this new unlimited time off policy, Microsoft will offer ten company vacations and time off for illness, mental health or bereavement, according to The Verge. Those who have a vacation balance without spending rwill receive financial compensationthrough a single payment, which will be made in April.

However, these terms do not apply to everyone who works for Microsoft. External or self-employed workers – who charge per hour worked – will not have unlimited free time. Not even employees outside the US, who will continue to take the same time off due to different laws and regulations in other countries.

Unlimited holidays: the new technological trend

Originally, the idea of ​​unlimited vacations was promoted by various start-ups a attract young and creative employeesbut large companies have long decided to join this trend.

In the case of Microsoft, the multinational ensures that it implements this change after evaluating social changes for years, thus adapting to more flexible working hours.

However, this labor policy, which is applied in companies such as Netflix and for Goldman Sachs group senior executives, it can backfire.

It is a working scheme based on high performance and absolute availability. Employees have more freedom, but also more responsibility for getting all the work done before going on vacation. Something that makes it difficult to disconnect, according to specialists.

Mass layoffs at Microsoft

On the other hand, the Redmond giant announced this Wednesday that it will lay off 10,000 employees, about 5% of its workforce, and that it has started notifying some of the layoffs.

The executive chairman, Satya NadellaAdditionally, it noted in a statement that the company is undergoing “significant changes.”

Nadella explained that when meeting with customers, he notes that they are no longer “accelerating their digital spending,” as seen during the pandemic, but instead opting to “optimize their digital spending to do more with less.”

“We are also seeing organizations across all industries and geographies treading cautiously as some parts of the world are in recession and other parts are predicting one,” he adds.

Microsoft’s chief executive added that the company will suffer a $1.2 billion impairment on its earnings due to compensation expenses and changes to its hardware portfolio, among others.

According to information on its website, Microsoft currently has 221,000 employees worldwide.

With information from La Vanguardia.