A free Lumia 630 is Microsoft’s idea of severance pay

If your firm, like Microsoft, was preparing huge layoffs, you’d expect a sweet incentive to leave, like a fat check, or the right to rob the stationery cupboard guilt-free. For workers at a former Nokia factory in China, however, the reward on offer’s a little less than spectacular. MarketWatch is reporting that Microsoft is offering workers in a former Nokia factory a free Lumia 630 if they apply for the company’s voluntary resignation scheme. The handsets are being handed out on a first come, first served basis, with the first 300 employees to leave each day bagging one of the phones. Of course, given that the low-end handset retails for the equivalent of $130, it’s hardly the gold watch and golf club membership you’d expect to leave your job with.

In an apparent effort to ease tensions in China triggered by Microsoft Corp.’s plans for massive layoffs at its Nokia unit, the U.S. company is offering a free Nokia handset to those Chinese workers who voluntarily leave their jobs, a local report said Wednesday. Microsoft plans to cut about 4,700 jobs at its Nokia handset factory and R&D center in Beijing, leaving only 300 workers, according to earlier reports. However, the plan triggered protests among Nokia employees there last week. As a result, Microsoft is giving free Nokia handsets to up to 300 employees per day if they apply for the company’s volunteer resignation package, the First Financial Daily reported Wednesday, citing an internal company email. Microsoft said the phones would be given on a “first come, first serve” basis, the report said. The phone in question, a Nokia Lumina 630, retails on China’s JD.com website for just under 800 yuan (about $130), a relative bargain compared to Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5S at 4,868 yuan. The First Financial Daily described the offer as a “new trick” by the U.S. tech major, and said Microsoft’s China arm declined to comment on the issue.