Tech giant Microsoft Corp. is opting out of the state’s Job Development Investment Grant program, citing its unwillingness to share employee data with North Carolina officials.
“Unfortunately the amount of employee data requested to validate job creation metrics is more than Microsoft is willing to share,” Michael Shelton, director of real estate for Microsoft, wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Machelle Sanders March 16.
The letter was made available to CBJ's sister publication, the Triangle Business Journal, at the behest of a public records request.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has more than 2,500 full-time employees in the state and has invested $73 million across operations in Morrisville and Raleigh. Shelton wrote that the company would “continue our commitment to capital investment and job creation in North Carolina for years to come.”
It is not a total surprise, as the company shied away from answering questions about its participation in the JDIG program last month.
In December of 2019, the firm announced plans for a major expansion in Morrisville, one it told the state would create 500 high-paying jobs — averaging $125,000 a year — by the end of 2027. Had it met its milestones in terms of job creation, it could have been in line for $1.9 million from the state and county in the form of incentives.
The 500 jobs were on top of the 550 employees it already had in the region.
The same year, Microsoft announced plans to expand in Charlotte, too, adding 430 jobs in exchange for up to $7.9 million in state incentives. The company already had 1,000 employees in the Charlotte area.
In North Carolina, companies must prove they met job creation milestones before they can obtain incentives. The North Carolina Department of Commerce has confirmed no incentives dollars have been paid to Microsoft.
