At a certain multinational company that Anon(a close friend) is currently employed at had this way of distributing bonuses when the pandemic hit.

Context: the company is chasing a $100mn y-o-y growth at this point.

- All employees in the US offices get a hefty bonus for the profits they contributed to

- All employees in the India office were to not receive bonuses/increments because we wanted to cut costs (not to forget, Indian salaries are 20% of their US counterparts)

- All employees in the US were to get reimbursements for stylish/modern/gaming chair while working from home($300 a piece)

- All employees in India had to get their $40 chair approved from the manager (request denied in most cases, "unnecessarily too costly", he said)

- No more bonuses for India offices for the next year or so because we spent all the money on the US employees and the managers bonuses

- Indian new hires are getting offered the salary that someone with 5 years exp is already working at in the company

<puts on tin-foil hat>: distribution of bonus/increments seem to have an upper limit. the less you distribute as a manager = the more you have for yourself and your favorite juniors

<anecdote>: ^^ one of the favorites from above actually quit the next day after getting the bonus. it's common to put in your papers right after the increment letter.

edit: formatting