San Francisco, May 20 (IANS): Microsoft's Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela has reportedly told employees that "the most important lever for almost all our employees' compensation upside is the stock price."

The suggestion came for employees frustrated with the company's decision not to give pay raises this year. Microsoft will not give any raise to salaried employees, including senior leaders.

According to a report in Fortune, CMO Capossela wrote in a message to employees that "great quarterly results contribute to making the stock attractive which, in turn, drives everyone's total compensation up".

"We are still investing heavily in our people as well as in our data centre capacity to hopefully position us well for the Al transformation," he wrote.

Capossela cashed out $1.55 million worth of Microsoft stock earlier this month and sold another $2.85 million last week.

A Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Fortune that Capossela's "sale is part of Chris' personal planning and does not reflect any change in his dedication to the company's success."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has told employees in a memo, seen by The Verge, that only hourly workers will receive raises this year.

"We are clear that we are helping drive a major platform shift in this new era of AI, and doing so in a dynamic, competitive environment while also facing global macroeconomic uncertainties," Nadella told employees.

"We must maintain a leadership position in our at-scale businesses of today, generating enough yield to invest and lead in the next wave, while staying on the frontiers of both performance and efficiency," he added.

Microsoft will still offer salaried employees bonuses and stock awards, according to the report.

Senior leadership team, including Nadella, will not get salary increases and receive only lower annual performance-based bonuses.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced to lay off 10,000 employees across the company.