Nokia is reportedly offering its MeeGo developers a 50% bonus to stay through the end of the year, apparently fearing a so-called “brain drain” prior to the release of the its first handset based on the nascent platform. The Finnish giant knows that it needs these employees to support the device, called a spiritual successor to the Maemo-powered N900, and is essentially bribing them to stick around in the wake of its very public alliance with Microsoft / Windows Phone 7.

News of the bonus offer was reported by Finnish papers Taloussanomat and Ilta-Sanomat.

Much of the company’s software development is expected to shift to the US as WP7 becomes the dominant platform, and with the future of Intel-co-developed MeeGo still very much up in the air, employees have every reason to begin circulating their resumes. Hours after the strategic shift was announced prior to Mobile World Congress kicking off, over 1,000 Nokia workers were said to have walked out of the Tampere office in protest.

Source: Taloussanomat

Via: Mobile Apps Briefing