Leaked document: Microsoft pays, on average, $120K more per year for an AI software engineer compared to someone working in Azure

What you need to know

• A leaked spreadsheet reportedly belonging to Microsoft employees discloses that the company is paying employees in the AI division handsomely compared to counterparts in Azure and Cloud.
• An average AI software engineer is paid up to $377,611, which is $120,000 more than the average salary of an employee in the Azure division.
• Microsoft's focus has shifted to AI-themed projects like Copilot while other crucial departments seemingly take a backseat.

Over the past few years, we've received subtle hints and rough estimates of Microsoft employees' pay scale. For instance, per a leaked payment guideline , the highest-ranking Microsoft employee receives a base pay ranging from $231,700 to $361,500, a hiring bonus of up to $1.2 million, and $1 million in annual stock awards. However, the lowest-ranking employee at the tech firm receives $42,500 with no extra compensation.

Interestingly, months before the payment guideline leak, a Microsoft insider poll disclosed that more than half of the employees were willing to leave their jobs if a better offer at a rival company presented itself. The employees cited the lack of a pay rise negatively impacted their performance index and morale, prompting them to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

As it happens, Microsoft's AI department employees are taking a bigger check home, according to a spreadsheet obtained by Business Insider featuring intricate details about the salary ranges of Microsoft employees. This isn't surprising; Microsoft is all gas and has no brakes in AI, especially after making a multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI's technology and integrating it across its tech stack.

Per the spreadsheet, an average Software Engineer in Microsoft's new AI department earns up to $377,611 . This is at least $120,000 more than the average salary of an employee in Microsoft's Azure and Cloud division.

AI-focused Microsoft

As you may know, Microsoft hired DeepMind and Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to lead its new AI division as part of the company's internal reorg strategy to get an early lead in the AI landscape, with products like with products like Bing, Edge, and Copilot at the forefront.

While the authenticity of the spreadsheet remains slim at best, it potentially paints a picture of Microsoft's vision for the future with AI. It also poses a bone of contention among employees as it may make some employees feel undervalued for their efforts, ultimately impacting their performance index.

Aside from the vast disparity in pay, Microsoft reportedly transferred some employees from the Teams chat app umbrella to its AI department to assist with Copilot-themed projects . Interestingly, the company announced its plans to stop shipping new Copilot experiences to users and indicated it would use the time to enhance and improve existing experiences.

RELATED: Microsoft to end the freeze on employee salaries

Elsewhere, investors have raised concerns over Microsoft's exorbitant expenditure and investment in AI and find it difficult to establish a clear path for generating revenue and profits. However, market analysts and experts say Microsoft's early investment and adoption in AI increased its market valuation, making it the world's most valuable company ahead of Apple and NVIDIA earlier this year.

According to Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index report , most company executives will only hire professionals with an AI aptitude. The execs have highlighted concern for a lack of talent to fill vacancies at their firms, prompting "a 142x increase in LinkedIn members adding AI skills like Copilot and ChatGPT to their profiles."