In a company-wide memo sent out today, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella said that the company will address the issue of under-represented women and minorities. And how will they do this? Mandatory training on diversity and inclusion.
Well, that ought to do it. Problem solved.
Now let’s get on to the other pressing issues that Microsoft faces including how to surgically remove Nadella’s foot from his mouth after he told a group of women at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference last week that they shouldn’t ask for raises but instead rely on karma and their ‘special superpowers.’ If they do that and trust in the system they will eventually get the pay they deserve.
Microsoft reported earlier this month that 29 percent of its employees are women, yet just 17 percent of managers and engineers are women. And those numbers are pretty much the norm across all high-tech companies.
See how well the system works?
Nadella did apologize for his statements, sort of, but it seems clear that he is still a bit confused about why people were angry about what he said.
Keep in mind that this is the same man that announced back in July that Microsoft was going to eliminate 18,000 jobs, a 14 percent reduction, over the coming months.
So I guess we can assume that those 18,000 people just don’t have the right karma and they’ll be using their ‘super powers’ to search for new jobs.
I don’t think Nadella is necessarily anti-women. I think he is anti-employee.
I think he sees employees as little more than faceless, bothersome workers who take up parking spaces, constantly ask for more money and worst of all put a drain on Microsoft’s bottom line.
I’m sure he would be much happier if all those pesky employees would just stop asking for raises, keep their little heads down and just do their jobs until Microsoft decides they got everything they need from them and kicks them out with no warning.
These days the modern equivalent of a retirement party is when you get called down to the HR department one Friday afternoon and they tell you that you’re being laid off. Instead of a gold watch you’ll get a week’s pay for every year you worked there and the option to continue your health insurance if you pay the premiums contingent upon your signing a legal agreement stating you won’t sue the company after they escort you out the door.
And companies wonder why their employees have no loyalty.
