Hey there fellow tech enthusiasts! I have some exciting news to share with you today. Microsoft recently announced that they are offering their US employees unlimited time off!

Microsoft is calling this new policy “Discretionary Time Off” and it will apply to all salaried US employees. In an internal memo, Microsoft’s Chief People Officer, Kathleen Hogan, noted that as the work landscape has changed so drastically, a more flexible vacation policy was a natural step to take.

The new policy will take effect on January 16th and even new employees don’t need to wait to accrue vacation time anymore. Along with this unlimited time off, Microsoft will still offer leaves of absence, sick and mental health days, jury duty and bereavement time off, as well as 10 corporate holidays.

Unfortunately, this unlimited time off won’t be extended to hourly workers or employees outside the US due to different laws and regulations. However, other big tech companies such as Salesforce, LinkedIn (which is owned by Microsoft), Oracle, and Netflix have adopted similar policies.

This is also in line with other recent changes made by Microsoft such as allowing more employees to work from home permanently and the $1,500 pandemic bonus for all employees. It’s great to see companies taking care of their employees in such unprecedented times.