主题：【评论】微软也要勒紧裤带了！ -- Highway

[SIZE=3]Changes affect stock purchase plan, parental leave and medical co-payments[/SIZE]

Microsoft Corp., renowned for its industry-leading employee benefits, plans to scale back in some areas as part of a broader effort to cut costs and improve its profit margin even as revenue growth slows.

Don't worry, the soft drinks in the break rooms are still free.

But the company yesterday said it will reduce the discount employees receive when they buy Microsoft stock, shrink the window in which they can take their four weeks of paid parental leave, require a co-payment when they choose brand-name prescription drugs over approved generic equivalents and trim the vacation time received by new hires.

"These benefit changes will significantly reduce our operating costs, and -- as part of Microsoft's overall cost-efficacy initiative -- help increase the long-term value of the company," wrote Ken DiPietro, corporate vice president of human resources, in a memo to employees. "They also better align our benefits with those of our competition while still keeping us ahead of the market average."

The company has long touted its benefits package as the best in the high-tech industry, and most of the items on the long list -- ranging from the 401(k) matching program to full medical coverage to free health-club membership -- remain unchanged despite the latest adjustments.

But one labor leader said he sees in the move a sign of things to come.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg of what Microsoft employees are going to face in the next few years in light of the company's continued shift toward a more globalized work force," said Marcus Courtney, president of WashTech, which wants to organize Microsoft employees. "If they had union representation, management would have to negotiate with the union before it could implement these unilateral changes."

An employee survey conducted for Microsoft last year by consulting firm Towers Perrin asked if employees were generally "willing to share in health care costs" through increased deductibles, co-payments or higher payroll contributions. Courtney cited the survey as evidence that the company has been contemplating broader changes.

This week's announcement is the second time in less than a year that the company has changed elements of the package it offers employees. Microsoft last year began awarding employees actual shares of stock as part of their compensation, rather than options to buy shares, as it had previously.

Many employees welcomed that change, which resulted in more financial certainty.

The benefits changes were announced to employees late Tuesday. Cecily Hall, Microsoft's director of U.S. benefits, said it's too early to know how employees will react, but she said she believes they will see it as the right thing for them, the company and shareholders.

"What we've done is made some minor modifications to our benefits plan, but we really feel like most of them still offer a lot of choice and flexibility, and these changes will continue to preserve what really is a premier benefits package," she said. "We're being fiscally responsible while still working to provide the best package that we can."