Microsoft: Talent Attraction and Retention for the Metaverse

By January 2022, approximately 100 employees from Microsoft Corporation’s (Microsoft) HoloLens division, which had pioneered augmented reality (AR), quit. Most joined Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook), despite the company’s recent controversies. Meta was seeking talent for metaverse technology that required AR and virtual reality (VR) expertise. Metaverse talent was scant industry wide. Meta offered double salaries to poach talent from Microsoft, its partner for different projects. The executives leaving Microsoft were key employees of the HoloLens division. Microsoft’s choice to not hire more engineers after the US Army contract led employees to question Microsoft’s commitment toward HoloLens, a part of metaverse technology. However, Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft, confirmed Microsoft’s commitment toward metaverse technology, though some employees disagreed. What could Nadella do to retain HoloLens employees? With an increasing demand for metaverse-related skills, how could Nadella attract more talent? Was Meta’s employee poaching likely to bring any good news for Microsoft?

This case is intended for undergraduate and graduate-level courses on strategic human resource management, human resource management, and organizational behaviour. The case deals with the chief executive officer’s challenges in retaining and acquiring talent in a talent crunch industry. It also helps to explore if alliances between competitors can benefit from poaching. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>examine reasons that drive employees to quit a more ethical organization to join a less ethical organization;</li><li>critically analyze if poaching can benefit the employer when it allies with a competitor that has poached the talent;</li><li>explore strategies through which a firm could retain talent in the rapidly changing tech industry;</li><li>examine strategies firms may use to acquire talent during a talent shortage; and</li><li>examine how organizations can create an empowering experience for employees.</li></ul>

• talent acquisition
• talent poaching
• retention
• acquihiring
• market-drive retention strategy
• talent crunch
• Metaverse
• talent shortage
• tech industry
• ethics
• human resource management
• organizational behaviour