Microsoft Struggles To Retain Women, Minority Employees

Microsoft Corp.'s female, Black and Latinx employees are leaving at an increasing rate, a trend that's complicating the company's efforts to build a more diverse workforce.

Globally, women accounted for 32.7% of departures for the fiscal year that ended June 30, up from 31% in 2023, according to Microsoft's diversity and inclusion report, which was released Wednesday and measures voluntary and involuntary departures. Black workers accounted for 10% of US exits, compared with 8.7% the previous year, while Latinx departures rose to 9.8% from 8%. By contrast, fewer male and Asian employees left last year than in 2023. 

The software giant attributed the trends to poaching by rivals, as well as a continued shift away from its physical and online retail business, which has typically had a more diverse workforce.

Microsoft continues to hire people from more unrepresented groups but must work harder to retain them, Microsoft Chief Diversity Officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre said in an interview. "Once that talent arrives at Microsoft we know that we've got to do more," she said. That includes providing mentors and career options "that give them an ongoing reason to invest and stay at Microsoft." 

An increasing number of jobs in cloud-computing data centers, which are widely distributed geographically is giving Microsoft opportunities to boost diversity in hiring, she said. 

Diversity is increasingly important for Microsoft, which is keen to ensure that its new artificial intelligence products are free from racial, gender and other biases. 

"It's going to take lots of perspectives to birth a trusted AI that everybody wants to engage with," McIntyre said. 

Few companies disclose retention statistics along racial and gender lines. Last year BlackRock Inc. released the results of an audit by former US Attorney General Eric Holder that showed Black and Latinx leaders were departing so quickly it was nearly offsetting the Wall Street firm's efforts to diversify its ranks.

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