Companies are rewarding employees with $2K+ COVID bonuses

• In recognition of all the stress that workers endured during the COVID-19 pandemic, some companies are ponying up large bonuses

• Microsoft is giving employees $1,500; Fox Corporation employees will receive $2,000 or more.

• The trend started earlier last year at Facebook.

Pandemic bonuses are all the rage.

As employees get back into the swing of things and return to pre-pandemic arrangements, companies are rewarding them for their hard work during the coronavirus pandemic with bonuses of $2,000 or more.

Microsoft ponies up $200 million for workers

Microsoft will give out $1,500 bonuses to its employees, The Verge reported. Citing an internal memo, the one-time bonuses “is in recognition of the unique and challenging fiscal year that Microsoft just completed.”

Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, said that it will apply to eligible employees in its US offices and internationally. Staffers below the corporate vice president level and who started on or before March 31st, 2021, are eligible for the gift. It also includes workers on part-time schedules or hourly rates, the report said.

However, the bonuses don’t extend to all workers under the Microsoft umbrella; employees at LinkedIn, GitHub, and ZeniMax, which Microsoft owns, won’t receive the bonuses.

The report said that the bonuses will cost Microsoft about $200 million.

Microsoft previously gave workers an additional five extra paid vacation days earlier this year, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Fox to give all staffers $2,000 or more

Fox Corporation told employees that they’re all receiving a bonus of $2,000 or more, according to The Daily Beast.

Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corporation, announced the gift in an internal email to employees which reportedly is his way of thanking employees for their hard work during the pandemic.

“I want to express my gratitude and the gratitude of the entire leadership team for your focus, your passion, your dedication and your resilience,” Murdoch wrote, according to the report.

“Thank you for the important role you played in Fox achieving its business goals while also fulfilling our responsibilities to the communities and audiences we serve.”

Fox Corporation includes Fox News and Fox Sports.

Other companies show thanks

At the start of the pandemic, Facebook announced that every employee at the company would receive a $1,000 bonus; this was reportedly distributed throughout April 2020.

The company also gave most of its 45,000 employees an ���exceeds rating” for their six-month review last year, which padded their annual normal bonus to help make ends meet during the crisis.

It was the first time Facebook had offered this type of package.

Meanwhile, Bank of America rewarded 97% of its global workforce with either a cash incentive or stock grant for their work during the pandemic.

Workers who made $100,000 or less received a $750 bonus in February, Human Resources Director Magazine reported, while employees earning more than $100,000 were granted 150 to 750 restricted stock units based on their salary tier.