Microsoft Reverses Decision, Lets Employees Keep Free 'Xbox Game Pass Ultimate' (theverge.com) 30
Microsoft has changed its mind, the Verge reported Friday, and now will continue giving a free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to most of its 238,000 employees, according to an announcement from Xbox chief Phil Spencer.
Earlier reports had suggested that Microsoft was removing the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit — and some employees weren't happy about it.
Earlier reports had suggested that Microsoft was removing the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit — and some employees weren't happy about it.
hope someone got the sack (Score:2, Insightful)
paper cost cutting on xbox. (Score:3)
paper cost cutting on xbox.
You can point to the retail cost of that but the real cost of that is likely very low and even can seen as our workers get to be 0/hr game testers as well.
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I have a better idea (Score:2)
Track employees' game playing and fire them for not staying late to test software. Sorry, maybe I'm a little damaged. Google would think it strange that I wanted to go home to my wife for dinner. Then if you have dinner there, the manager would make some passive aggressive comment about people leaving after a free meal instead of working a little bit more to make up for it. I was in a particularly nasty group and not all of the company is like that.
Decades ago, texas instruments stopped free coffee (Score:1)
Ball and Intersection (Score:1)
Good for them (Score:2)
Good for the employees.
Though to be fair, this is not "free" for Microsoft. They still have to pay for 3rd party licenses (forget "lost revenue"). Though even if it was 100%, with 280,000 employees, this would be $4.2 million per month. A drop in the bucket for them. (Realistically, not everyone will take the offer, and the cost is nowhere near the full price). So totally useless "cost cutting" at the expense of employee morale.
Bottom line:
It seems like being loud, especially on social media helps. Don't fo
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There is no way every MS employee would buy the most expensive xbox game pass package there is. Many people probably don't play at all. Some people may play xbox but probably don't buy the online experience. Those who want the online play, probably get the first tier of game pass which is $10/month.
I'd be surprised if the total loss is over $10M a year.
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Over 5 years I never used the benefit. I did use the free MSDN though, and free cert exams and such.
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The amount it costs them is a rounding error of a rounding error.
No it's not. Xbox game pass comes with per user licensing fees for the games in the catalogue for MS. If it was just an MS service with MS products you'd be right, kind of like giving employees a free copy of Office or Windows. But as it stands running xbox game pass comes at quite a significant cost.
Nearly all such decisions are data driven with the unknown variable being employee happiness / backlash. They misjudged that one.
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Lots of things aren't free. Vacation days and sick days aren't free. Medical insurance isn't free. Parking isn't free. The Microsoft employee store isn't free.
The key element is to find perks that cost very little to the company but mean a lot to the employee. Extra vacation days don't cost a lot, but hey, maybe it can hold off raises for a bit. (An extra week off is just under a 2% raise ,for example, and sometimes can be worth a lot more than 2% taken as cash especially after taxes).
This is the same thing
The damage was done (Score:2, Insightful)
Unless the moron exec who proposed/approved this got sacked, the damage was done and irreversible.
This is how management lose the trust and loyalty of employees, making stupid decisions that impact a whole lot of staff without consulting them, demonstrating inconsideration and lack of respect.
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No damage has been done. In fact this may actually play into management's hand. Benefits beyond contractual remuneration constantly change at every employer, any employee of any company who thinks otherwise is an absolute idiot. The only thing MS has shown here is that they are willing to back down in the wake of backlash, and that is likely to make people feel more empowered.
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As an internal, lots of damage has been done
As an internal your voice represents 1/238000th of the company. You don't speak for them just because you're "internal". And in fact it sounds very much like even in this post you're complaining about many other things. Yet MS doesn't appear to have above average industry attrition rates, kinda makes you think doesn't it.
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Benefits beyond contractual remuneration constantly change at every employer, any employee of any company who thinks otherwise is an absolute idiot.
Yeah, what a great way to remind the "idiots" to always on the lookout for a better job elsewhere. Your reply illustrated exactly the damage done.
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Not really. You should be keeping an eye out for better jobs elsewhere anyway, even if you have what you think is the perfect job.
And when you do so you should remember than any promise made outside of your contract is subject to change at any time.
Your reply illustrated exactly the damage done.
Only if you didn't understand it.
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It is also how companies die, long-term. As this is Microsoft, good. They need to die, the sooner the better. As they are, they are holding everything back and are destroying massive amounts of potential productivity.
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As they are, they are holding everything back and are destroying massive amounts of potential productivity.
What are you talking about? They are "destroying massive amounts of potential productivity" by cancelling free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions for current MS employees? I'd love to hear how free video games increase productivity...
Minor miracles of corporate bullshit (Score:2)