Microsoft retirees its Perspectives peer-feedback tool as part of a broader review overhaul. Managers are told to reduce senior engineering headcount.
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Microsoft is retiring a peer-feedback system called Perspectives as it overhauls employee performance reviews, an internal message viewed by Business Insider shows.
The tool let employees request feedback from colleagues, which was visible to the employee and their manager. Microsoft had used Perspectives since 2017.
“The Perspectives tool is being retired,” the message says. “Feedback remains an important part of our growth mindset, and we heard from employees and managers that feedback is most valuable when shared through ongoing, in-the-moment conversations rather than formal requests.”
The tool is no longer accepting new feedback requests. Employees can still respond to active requests and export their feedback history through September 15, the message says. The company is steering workers toward informal peer conversations instead.
The change is part of a broader overhaul of Microsoft’s performance review system. The company is simplifying ratings into five categories while sharpening performance distinctions, the message shows. Managers have also been told to reduce the number of employees in higher-level engineering roles as Microsoft flattens parts of its organization, a trend that mirrors a broader push across Big Tech toward leaner teams and higher expectations.
Perspectives replaced an earlier Feedback Tool, which let managers collect and summarize peer input for employees. Microsoft’s human resources team described Perspectives as “less intimidating,” according to a 2017 report from Quartz. An HR executive told Quartz at the time that the name deliberately avoided the word “feedback,” which she said triggered negative reactions.
The shift away from formal peer review toward real-time conversations reflects a broader reassessment of performance management across large tech employers. Microsoft has been testing different approaches to reviews since at least 2023, when it began streamlining its annual review cycle.
A Microsoft spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
For more on how Microsoft is reshaping its workplace, see the MSFT stock page.
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