Microsoft retires 8-year-old employee tool, here’s the message HR shared on its shutting down
Microsoft is retiring Perspectives, its peer-feedback tool which the employees have used since 2018 to request peer feedback on their performance, according to an internal message reviewed by Business Insider. The retirement of the tool comes as the company is reworking on the broader approach to performance management. “The Perspectives tool is being retired,” the HR message stated. “Feedback remains an important part of our growth mindset, and we heard from employees and managers that feedback is most valuable when shared through ongoing, in-the-moment conversations rather than formal requests.”For those unaware, the Perspectives tool allowed employees solicit input on their work directly from colleagues, with responses visible to both the employee and their manager. Microsoft designed the tool to make asking for feedback feel routine and low-pressure rather than something tied to formal review cycles.
Microsoft retires 8-year-old employee tool: Transition timeline
The shutdown isn’t immediate. Employees can no longer initiate new feedback requests through the tool, but they can still respond to requests already in progress and export their feedback history up until September 15, per the internal communication.
Performance review overhaul at Microsoft
The retirement of Perspectives comes as Microsoft simplifies its performance review system, moving to five rating categories and sharpening distinctions in employee performance. Managers have also been instructed to reduce the number of employees in higher-level engineering roles, part of a broader flattening of the organization that reflects Big Tech’s shift toward a more demanding work culture.That combination — fewer senior roles, sharper performance grading, and the removal of an informal peer-feedback channel — fits into what’s been described as a broader shift toward a more intense work culture across large tech companies in recent years, a trend that has touched firms beyond Microsoft as well.
Microsoft’s first-ever voluntary retirement offer for 8,500-plus US employees
In related news, in May this year, Microsoft announced its first-ever voluntary retirement offer for 8,500-plus US employees. the package combines healthcare coverage, cash severance, and a partial stock vesting bump for long-serving US employees who decide to walk away. About 7 percent of Microsoft’s US workforce, or roughly 8,750 people, are eligible. The formula is simple: add your age to your years of service, and if the total is 70 or more, the offer is on the table. Employees get 30 days to decide.The medical side of the package is the headline benefit for anyone retiring before they hit Medicare age. Microsoft is offering five years of medical, dental, vision, and well-being coverage. The first year is fully subsidised by the company. For the remaining four, employees will pay a monthly premium themselves. That distinction matters. A 55-year-old walking out today still has a decade before Medicare kicks in at 65, and the cost of bridging that gap will land squarely on whatever Microsoft decides to charge for those four out-years.
