RALEIGH, N.C. — Microsoft Corp. won’t seek taxpayer-funded economic incentives valued at about $20 million related to two announced job expansions in 2019 in North Carolina, saying it wasn’t “willing to share” employee data that would prove they met job-creation requirements.
The operating system and software giant wrote the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier this month requesting the grant agreements be terminated.
“The amount of employee data requested to validate job creation metrics is more than Microsoft is willing to share,” read the Microsoft letter obtained by WRAL-TV from the state Department of Commerce. The department confirmed on Friday that no payments were ever made to Microsoft for these Job Development Investment Grant agreements.
In October 2019, Microsoft announced it would create 430 jobs in Charlotte to build out its engineering and quantum computing businesses. Less than two months later, Microsoft unveiled plans for 500 new jobs in Morrisville.
The grants are calculated based on a percentage of state income tax withheld from paychecks for the new jobs.
Microsoft’s letter said the company has made $73 million in capital expenditure investments between the two locations, and has more than 2,500 full-time employees in North Carolina. Microsoft had 1,950 employees in North Carolina in late 2019.
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