No they didn't. I talked with friends at Microsoft; what they did is increase the "merit" budget by up to double, and increase stock ranges by about 25%. Merit

No they didn't. I talked with friends at Microsoft; what they did is increase the "merit" budget by up to double, and increase stock ranges by about 25%. Merit is their annual increase in base pay, which is usually 2% - 4%, so doubling that means an increase in base pay of 4% - 8% which is still below the inflation rate. Also, stock ranges are roughly 1/3rd of competition (see levels.fyi) so an increase of 25% is insultingly low (might as well be nothing at all). None of the folks I talked to over there are happy about this and they said they'd been happier with no announcement at all instead.