Considering that Microsoft had set itself a goal of doubling the number of Blacks and African-Americans in its workforce by 2025, the news of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) team being laid off comes as a surprise. The actual number of employees impacted is not known yet, but the contents of a mail, sent by an affected team leader, have grabbed headlines. The team member has expressed his frustration at the hoplessness of the situation.
While Microsoft maintained that the DE&I team was dissolved in accordance with “changing business needs”, as reported by Business Insider, the team leader has written a mail highlighting how Microsoft is not giving as much importance to this area as it should.
The sender of the mail pointed out how unfortunate it was that DE&I has stopped being critical for Microsoft’s business; that efforts in this direction are no longer considered “smart”.
The author of the mail points out how not just Microsoft but most companies are taking a relook at their DE&I strategies now that the initial interest has worn off.
He laments the fact that businesses are not willing to invest time and resources on truly changing systems to take forward DE&I initiatives.
The team leader’s e-mail was read by thousands of employees at Microsoft.
In 2020, Microsoft had vowed to double Black representation in its workforce by 2025. Whether it has progressed in that direction is not known either.
