• Microsoft managers use forms to request retention bonuses for employees they can't afford to lose.
• One such document, viewed by BI, includes a field specific to employees' AI contributions.
• Microsoft AI employees earn much more than their colleagues, according to payroll data viewed by BI.

Some managers at Microsoft may be trying harder to retain talented employees with AI know-how, according to an internal document viewed by Business Insider.

Microsoft managers can request retention bonuses for employees they feel they can't afford to lose. The process involves filling out forms that include an array of questions, such as "What harm is done if employee leaves Microsoft?"

The document viewed by BI showed a new field focusing on employee contributions in artificial intelligence.

"In the context of AI transformation as a key priority, please indicate if this individual is critical AI talent and share the risk to the AI initiative/s if talent is not retained," the document asks Microsoft managers.

The refreshed document was prepared for a specific, large group inside Microsoft. However, it's unclear if the AI question is being added to similar retention documents in other parts of the company.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company does not have a central form for special stock and cash award requests, and organizations and teams can choose whether to add different fields, depending on what their strategic priorities are.

Still, the addition of the AI question to this specific document suggests that the AI talent wars may be pushing some parts of Microsoft to do more to prevent poaching by rivals.

Google, OpenAI, Meta, and other tech companies are racing to develop the most powerful AI models and the best generative AI tools, and they need employees who know the technical details of how to craft these products. That's caused bidding wars for some talent, along with multimillion-dollar compensation packages sometimes.

Higher pay for AI talent

Microsoft has already prioritized AI talent when it comes to compensation.

As of September, average compensation in Microsoft's AI group was about 37% higher than the average for all of the company's US employees. Software engineers working in AI, for example, earned 48% more than the average software engineer at the company, according to a payroll spreadsheet shared with BI.

In 2023, during a leadership crisis at OpenAI, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott said the software giant would hire hundreds of OpenAI employees and match their current compensation.

He made the announcement in the midst of job cuts and a salary freeze at Microsoft, which made some employees furious.

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• Job cuts are continuing into 2025 following waves of reductions last year.
• Companies like Microsoft, BlackRock, and Ally have all confirmed cuts.
• See the list of companies letting workers go in 2025.

Layoffs and other workforce reductions are continuing in 2025, following two years of significant job cuts across tech, media, finance, manufacturing, and retail.

While companies' reasons for slimming their staff vary, the cost-cutting measures come amid the backdrop of technological change. Some 41% of companies worldwide are expected to reduce their workforces over the next five years due to the rise of artificial intelligence, according to a recent World Economic Forum report.

Companies like Dropbox, Google, and IBM have previously announced job cuts related to AI. Meanwhile, tech jobs in big data, fintech, and AI are expected to double by 2030, according to the WEF.

Here are the companies with job cuts planned or already underway in 2025 so far.

BlackRock is reportedly cutting 1% of its workforce

BlackRock told employees it plans to cut about 200 people of its 21,000-strong workforce, according to Bloomberg.

The reductions are more than offset by some 3,750 workers who were added last year and another 2,000 expected to be added in 2025.

BlackRock President Rob Kapito and Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein said the cuts will help realign the firm's resources with its strategy, Bloomberg reported.

Bridgewater is cutting approximately 90 staff

Bridgewater Associates cut 7% of its staff on Monday in an effort to stay lean, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

The layoffs at the world's largest hedge fund bring its head count back to where it was in 2023, the person said.

Founder Ray Dalio said in a 2019 interview that about 30% of new employees leave the firm within 18 months.

The Washington Post is cutting 4% of its non-newsroom workforce

The Washington Post is eliminating less than 100 employees in an effort to cut costs, Reuters reported Tuesday.

A spokesperson told the wire service that the changes would occur across multiple areas of the business and indicated that the cuts would not affect the newsroom.

"The Washington Post is continuing its transformation to meet the needs of the industry, build a more sustainable future and reach audiences where they are," the spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

Microsoft is planning an unspecified number of cuts

Microsoft is planning job cuts soon, and the company is taking a harder look at underperforming employees as part of the reductions, according to two people familiar with the plans.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed cuts but declined to share details on the number of employees being let go.

"At Microsoft we focus on high performance talent," the spokesperson said. "We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action."

Ally will cut less than 5% of workers

Digital financial company Ally is laying off roughly 500 of its 11,000 employees, a spokesperson confirmed to BI. The impacted employees were notified on Tuesday.

"As we continue to right-size our company, we made the difficult decision to selectively reduce our workforce in some areas, while continuing to hire in our other areas of our business," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said the company is offering severance, out-placement support, and the opportunity to apply for openings at Ally.

Ally made a similar level of cuts in October 2023, the Charlotte Observer reported.

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• Matt Garman leads AWS with 11 executives amid rising cloud and AI competition.
• Garman, an Amazon veteran, became AWS CEO in June, succeeding Adam Selipsky.
• Julia White, ex-SAP and Microsoft, is the latest addition as AWS's chief marketing officer.

A leaked Amazon Web Services organizational chart shows the 11 executives helping new CEO Matt Garman lead the unit through a period of intense competition in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Garman, an 18-year veteran of AWS, became its CEO in June. He took over from Adam Selipsky, who led the unit for three years after previous AWS CEO Andy Jassy was promoted to run all of Amazon.

Garman, who previously ran AWS sales and marketing, made a few changes to the cloud business when he took over, including combining global sales teams.

Since then, the biggest change to Garman's team was to hire Julia White as chief marketing officer.

Here are the 11 executives who report to Garman:

Julia White: VP, WW AWS Marketing

White joined AWS as CMO in November. She was most recently the chief marketing and solutions officer at SAP. Prior to that, she spent nearly two decades at Microsoft in roles including corporate vice president of product marketing for the Azure cloud unit.

"Julia will join my leadership team and further develop and execute our global marketing strategy, playing a pivotal part in AWS's growth," Garman wrote of White in an email announcing her appointment.

Peter DeSantis: SVP, AWS Utility Computing

DeSantis was one of the first AWS employees and played a critical role building up its technology. He's a member of Andy Jassy's senior leadership team at Amazon, called the "s-team."

DeSantis took over utility computing in 2021 when Charlie Bell, considered one of the founders of the cloud unit, left for Microsoft.

Prasad Kalyanaraman: VP, AWS Infrastructure Service, Infrastructure Leadership

Kalyanaraman, who has spent nearly 20 years at Amazon, took over infrastructure and network services for DeSantis when Bell left.

Colleen Aubrey: SVP, AWS Solutions

Aubrey has spent nearly 20 years at Amazon, but switched to AWS in May around the time Selipsky left. She leads the AWS unit responsible for business applications. Aubrey is a member of Jassy's s-team.

Elizabeth Baker: VP, Private Pricing

Baker has been at Amazon since 2016 and runs the unit responsible for custom agreements between AWS and customers, providing terms like discounts based on usage. Baker's past roles include positions at SAP and Oracle.

Werner Vogels: VP and CTO

Werner Vogels is technically the chief technology officer of Amazon overall, but he has another important role within AWS. He acts as one of the public faces of the company's cloud business and technical infrastructure.

Greg Pearson: VP, AWS Global Sales

After Garman became CEO, he integrated global sales teams under Greg Pearson, combining AWS Global Sales, WW Public Sector, the Greater China Region, and Sales Strategy and Operations.

Kathrin Renz: VP, AWS Industries

Renz leads the organization responsible for industry-specific AWS products for customers. She's had the role since 2020 and Garman expanded her purview when he took over as CEO to include AWS Enterprise GenAI sales and business development VP Scott Rosecrans's team.

Laura Grit: VP/Distinguished Engineer, Technical Advisor

Grit, a 17-year Amazon veteran, is the technical advisor to the AWS CEO. She previously led Amazon.com's migration from on-premise data centers to AWS cloud services.

Ruba Borno: VP, AWS Specialists & Partners, AWS WWCO Partner Management

Borno has been at AWS since 2021. When Garman took over, he put Borno in charge of a new unit combining its Channels and Alliances team, responsible for relationships between global partners and customers, and its WW Specialist Organization, which connects service teams to customers.

Uwem Ukpong: VP, Global Services

Ukpong runs the AWS Global Services Organization, which includes training, professional services in commercial and public sectors, customer support and managed services, and security. Garman expanded Ukpong's role last year to include its Sovereign Cloud and International Product Management teams.

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• Microsoft plans job cuts targeting underperforming employees.
• The reductions are happening across the company, including in its important Security division.
• Performance-based cuts are often backfilled by Microsoft, so total headcount may not change much.

Microsoft is planning job cuts soon and the company is taking a harder look at underperforming employees as part of the reductions, according to two people familiar with the plans.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed cuts, but declined to share details on the number of employees being let go.

"At Microsoft we focus on high performance talent," the spokesperson said. "We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action."

When people leave for performance reasons, Microsoft often backfills the roles, so there may be little change to the company's overall headcount, the spokesperson added. At the end of June, Microsoft had roughly 228,000 full-time employees.

Microsoft is taking a stronger stance on performance management like its competitors, the people familiar said, and managers at the company have spent the last few months evaluating employees all the way up to level 80, one of its highest levels. The people asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters.

The cuts are happening across the company, including in its important Security division, the people said.

Are you a Microsoft employee or do you have insight to share? Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email ([email protected]). Use a nonwork device.

• Amazon delayed its full return-to-office plan in some places because of insufficient office space.
• An internal list shows where Amazon employees will work three days a week until space is ready.
• The list has more than 40 locations where the full five-day RTO policy is delayed.

Amazon delayed its five-day return-to-office plan in some locations because of a lack of space, as Business Insider recently reported.

An internal Amazon list viewed by BI shows where employees are being asked to continue following the company's policy requiring only three days a week in the office.

The locations include major tech hubs such as Santa Clara, California; Austin; Beijing; Shenzhen, China; and Bengaluru, India.

Amazon's original guidance required employees to work from the office five days a week beginning January 2. An Amazon spokesperson told BI on Tuesday that buildings were ready for most employees on that day.

The company's real-estate team late last year started notifying employees that they could continue following their current in-office guidance until workspaces were ready, with delays stretching as late as May, according to internal Amazon notifications viewed by BI.

The company has said the return to office will improve collaboration and bring other benefits. CEO Andy Jassy, in a memo announcing the mandate, said Amazon made the decision to "further strengthen" its culture and teams.

Here are more of the Amazon locations where employees are being told to continue working three days a week in the office: Raleigh, Annapolis Junction, Baltimore, Columbia, Austin, Cupertino, Irvine, Nashville, Boulder, Charlotte, Houston, Jersey City, Newark, Atlanta, Dallas, East Palo Alto, Mexico City, Santa Clara, São Paulo, Tampa, Miami, Brooklyn, Columbus, New York, Sacramento, Hamburg, Munich, Tel Aviv, Amman, Milan, Cairo, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Dubai, Istanbul, Beijing, Hyderabad, Shenzhen, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Shanghai.

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• Amazon is delaying full RTO for some employees due to office capacity issues.
• The policy required employees to work from the office five days a week, beginning January 2.
• Amazon has encountered workspace capacity issues in the past.

Amazon is delaying the start of its strict new RTO policy for some employees because the company doesn't have enough office space in certain locations, Business Insider has learned.

The company's real estate team recently started notifying employees that they can continue following their current in-office guidance until workspaces are ready with delays stretching to as late as May, according internal Amazon notifications viewed by BI.

Impacted locations include Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, and New York, the notifications showed. An Amazon spokesperson said buildings will be ready for the majority of Amazon employees by January 2.

Earlier this year, Amazon ordered employees to start working from the office five days a week. beginning January 2. The company has said this will improve collaboration and bring other benefits. CEO Andy Jassy, in a memo announcing the mandate, said Amazon the decision to "further strengthen" its culture and teams.

Some staff were upset by the change and have argued that remote work provides more flexibility. The policy five-day-a-week policy is stricter than at some Amazon rivals and, by some accounts, stricter than Amazon's office-work policy before the pandemic.

This isn't the first time office capacity constraints have delayed Amazon's RTO plans. When the company last year ordered employees to start working in the office at least three days a week, many of its buildings weren't ready to accommodate all of those employees.

In internal guidelines viewed by BI, Amazon told employees when the new five-day RTO policy was first announced in September that they should plan to comply by January 2 whether or not they have assigned workspaces.

"For the vast majority of employees, assigned workspaces will be available by January 2, 2025," the guidance stated. "If your assigned workspace isn't ready by January 2, we still expect everyone to begin fully working from the office by that date."

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• On an analyst call, Marc Benioff described an injury he sustained recently while on a trip to Fakarava.
• The Salesforce CEO brushed off the incident and highlighted early traction for Agentforce.
• Wall Street sees Agentforce's success as crucial for Salesforce's growth.

There's nothing like an AI-powered stock surge to take your mind off other problems.

Late on Tuesday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff described a painful injury he sustained recently while visiting Fakarava, a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

"Everybody knows I've been wearing a boot because I ruptured my Achilles on a scuba-diving trip to Fakarava, which is an incredible place in the Tuamotus in French Polynesia, for my birthday," he said during an earnings conference call with analysts.

Benioff brushed it off swiftly, though.

"I'm sure we all know the international motto of Fakarava, which I have close to my heart, which is 'I don't give a Fakarava,'" he joked.

The CEO has reason to be in a buoyant mood. Salesforce stock jumped 9% to a record on Wednesday.

The company's $9.44 billion third-quarter revenue was up 8% compared with the same quarter last year, beating Wall Street expectations.

More importantly, Benioff shared some early signs of positive traction for Salesforce's latest AI product, Agentforce, which helps customers design AI agents.

The CEO said Salesforce "delivered" 200 deals for this new generative-AI offering after it became generally available in the last week of the quarter.

This is a far cry from the challenges Benioff grappled with back in 2022. It was two years ago nearly to the day that Salesforce announced Bret Taylor, the co-CEO and likely successor to Benioff, would step down. Activist investors, including Starboard Value, were pushing Salesforce to improve profit margins.

"This call is the two-year anniversary of our transformation," Benioff said on Tuesday's call. "It's been a financial transformation, and it's been a technology transformation."

Benioff pointed to AI investments over the past two years, the integration of its core customer-relationship-management platform, and the increase in the number of engineers at the company.

In an October presentation, Starboard said Salesforce had significantly expanded operating margins and improved growth, but it added that the company could "continue to become more efficient and more profitable." Starboard also said Agentforce had the potential to improve revenue growth.

Benioff boasted that Agentforce had an "incredible" pipeline of future transactions, but Salesforce still needs to prove it can get customers to buy the product, which has been a challenge for many generative-AI tools so far.

Benioff touted what he called Salesforce's "unfair advantage" over other generative-AI tools because Agentforce is grounded on customer data, such as purchases and returns.

He also took the latest in a series of recent jabs at Microsoft's generative-AI assistant, Copilot, calling it a "repackaged ChatGPT," meaning a derivative of the chatbot made by Microsoft's partner and competitor OpenAI. A Microsoft executive recently responded to Benioff's jabs in an interview with Business Insider, saying, "History tells us that when competitors talk about you, it's because they're behind."

In written remarks after the Salesforce earnings call on Tuesday, the Third Bridge analyst Charlie Miner said Salesforce needed a transformative catalyst such as Agentforce to overcome the risk of "sliding into the stagnation typical of a mature, legacy software platform."

"Despite Salesforce making AI its defining narrative, the true turning point hinges on Agentforce execution and adoption," Miner wrote. "If it proves to be an AI winner and delivers as a revenue driver, Salesforce's business could see a significant leap forward as early as mid-2025."

Are you a Salesforce employee or someone else with insight to share?

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• Microsoft released tools to address security issues with its AI assistant Copilot.
• Copilot's indexing of internal data led to oversharing of sensitive company information.
• Some corporate customers delayed Copilot deployment due to security and oversharing concerns.

You know when a colleague overshares at work? It's awkward at best.

Microsoft's Copilot has been doing an AI version of this behavior, which has unnerved corporate customers so much that some have delayed deploying the product, as Business Insider first reported last week.

Now, the software giant is trying to fix the problem. On Tuesday, Microsoft released new tools and a guide to help customers mitigate a Copilot security issue that inadvertently let employees access sensitive information, such as CEO emails and HR documents.

These updates are designed "to identify and mitigate oversharing and ongoing governance concerns," the company explained in a new blueprint for Microsoft's 365 productivity software suite.

"Many data governance challenges in the context of AI were not caused by AI's arrival," a Microsoft spokesperson told BI on Wednesday.

AI is simply the latest call to action for enterprises to take proactive management of their internal documents and other information, the spokesman added.

These decisions are controlled by each company's unique situation. Factors such as specific industry regulations and varying risk tolerance should inform these decisions, according to the Microsoft spokesperson. For instance, different employees should have access to different types of files, workspaces, and other resources.

"Microsoft is helping customers enhance their central governance of identities and permissions, to help organizations continuously update and manage these fundamental controls," the spokesman said.

Copilot's magic — its ability to create a 10-slide road-mapping presentation, or to summon up a list of your company's most profitable products — works by browsing and indexing all of your company's internal information, like the web crawlers used by search engines.

Historically, IT departments at some companies have set up lax permissions for who can access internal documents — selecting "allow all," say, for the company's HR software, rather than going through the trouble of selecting specific users.

That never created much of a problem, because there wasn't a tool that an average employee could use to identify and retrieve sensitive company documents — until Copilot.

As a result, some customers have deployed Copilot, only to discover that it can enable employees to read an executive's inbox or access sensitive HR documents.

"Now, when Joe Blow logs into an account and kicks off Copilot, they can see everything," said one Microsoft employee familiar with customer complaints. "All of a sudden Joe Blow can see the CEO's emails."

Are you a Microsoft employee or someone else with insight to share?

Contact Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email ([email protected]). Use a nonwork device.