Microsoft Corp. faces increased difficulty in retaining female, Black, or Latinx employees despite efforts to promote diversity.
According to the latest diversity and inclusion report of the company, which measures both involuntary and voluntary departures, these groups are leaving at a faster rate, posing a challenge for the tech giant’s diversification initiatives.
Women accounted for 32.7% (up from 31%) of all departures in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
Black workers accounted for 10% of US departures in 2023 compared to just 8.7% today, while Latinx departures increased to 9.8%, up from 8%.
The report also noted that male and Asian employees left less frequently during the same time period.
Causes cited include poaching and business shifts
Microsoft attributes this trend to a number of factors including increased poaching from rival companies and a shift in strategy away from its physical retail and online businesses which historically employed a diverse workforce.
In an interview, Microsoft’s Chief Diversity Officer, Lindsay-Rae McIntyre acknowledged the challenge. Bloomberg reported that she said: “Once talent arrives at Microsoft we know we have to do more.”
Microsoft offers mentors and career opportunities to give employees a reason to stay and invest in the company.
McIntyre highlighted the growing number jobs in cloud computing data centers, which are located in various geographical locations.
She noted that these roles offer the opportunity to improve diversity when hiring, but also require increased efforts to retain long-term employees.
AI development requires diversity
Microsoft’s diversity initiatives are at stake, especially since the company is working to ensure that its artificial intelligence products, which are in development, are free of racial and gender biases.
McIntyre stated that it would take a variety of perspectives to create a trusted AI which everyone would want to interact with.
Microsoft is not the only company that struggles with this issue. Few companies provide employee retention data by race and gender.
BlackRock Inc. released a report last year that showed the departure rates of Black and Latinx executives nearly negated the firm’s progress towards diversifying its leadership ranks.
Microsoft’s ability to overcome these retention challenges will be critical to its future workforce diversity, and inclusivity of its AI product.
This post Why does Microsoft struggle to retain its women employees? This post may be updated as new information becomes available
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