Microsoft Scraps Peer-Feedback Tool Amid Review System Overhaul

Microsoft is retiring its peer-feedback tool, Perspectives, as part of an overhaul of its employee review system. The company has been using this tool since 2018 to allow employees to request input on their performance from peers that would be visible to the employee and their managers.

The Perspectives tool will no longer be available for new feedback requests, though employees can respond to active requests and export feedback history until September 15. The change is intended to shift focus towards informal discussions with an employee's peers, rather than formal requests for feedback.

Microsoft is also simplifying its performance review system, reducing the number of ratings from more than a dozen to five categories while making distinctions significantly sharper. Additionally, managers have been instructed to reduce the number of employees in higher-level engineering roles as part of a broader effort to flatten parts of the organization.