While Microsoft keeps its salary data confidential, visa application records shed light on the pay scales of foreign employees.
Microsoft has recently attracted negative attention, notably for laying off over 9,000 employees globally.
The tech giant has confirmed its growing dependence on artificial intelligence (AI), investing billions in AI projects, especially its Copilot tool integrated with Windows, alongside substantial funding in OpenAI.
According to a report by Business Insider, based on internal Microsoft documents, employees are being urged to make greater use of AI tools. This strategy enables managers to offer retention bonuses to those contributing to AI-related projects
It is highlighted that staff working within Microsoft’s AI divisions receive higher pay than their non-AI peers.
While Microsoft keeps its salary data confidential, visa application records shed light on the pay scales of foreign employees. These figures represent base salaries and exclude bonuses and stock options.
Some salary ranges for various roles are as follows – Software Engineer: $82,971-$284,000; Product Manager: $122,800-$250,000; Data Engineering: $144,855-$264,000; Data Science: $121,200-$274,500; Customer Experience Engineering: $126,422-$239,585; Technical Program Management: $120,900-$238,000
Here are some other roles and their salaries – Applied Science: $127,200-$261,103; Hardware Engineer: $136,000-$270,641; Cloud Network Engineering: $122,700-$220,716; Research, Applied and Data Science: $85,821-$208,800; Business Analytics: $159,300-$191,580
8. These figures are based on over 5,400 visa applications processed up to early 2025.
Microsoft’s LinkedIn page reveals active recruitment for AI-focused positions. For example, a staff software engineer specialising in machine learning can earn up to $336,000, while senior engineers in the same area have base salaries ranging from $154,000 to $278,000.