Microsoft’s 2023 Diversity and Inclusion Report: A decade of transparency, commitment and progress

Today, I am sharing Microsoft’s 2023 Global Diversity & Inclusion Report — our fifth consecutive annual report and the 10th year of releasing our global workforce demographic data. As we mark this milestone, a couple of key aspects about our company’s work on diversity and inclusion (D&I) stand out: Our journey is ever evolving, and our focus and progress are consistent, both of which are vital to delivering on Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

This year’s report shows that we continue to be a more diverse Microsoft today than we have ever been. Looking at this year’s data as well as our cumulative efforts, it’s clear that we are driving positive change. The data we share is also a powerful tool for us to understand with precision where we need to concentrate and accelerate our work. This year, amid an evolving macroeconomic environment, our company — like many others — made intentional organizational and workforce adjustments to meet the strategic demands of the business, which impacted our rate of progress in some areas. While there’s more work to be done, I am motivated by our ongoing progress and sustained efforts on increasing representation and strengthening a culture of inclusion, as detailed in this year’s report.

Key highlights

• The representation of women and most racial and ethnic minority groups (Asian, Black and African American, Hispanic and Latinx, and multiracial employees) has increased at all levels over the past five years.
• We maintained or grew representation within several leadership levels for women and U.S. racial and ethnic minority groups year over year.
  • The representation of women in Executive roles is 29.1%, a 3.2 percentage point increase year over year. This was the highest year-over-year Executive representation growth across women, men, and U.S. racial and ethnic groups in 2023.
  • The number of Black and African American Directors, Partners and Executives (including People Managers and Individual Contributors) rose to 107.8% of our 2025 Racial Equity Initiative commitment, up from 92.0% in 2022.
  • The number of Hispanic and Latinx Directors, Partners and Executives (including People Managers and Individual Contributors) increased to 74.8% of our 2025 Racial Equity Initiative commitment, up from 57.6% in 2022.
• While hiring volume slowed, hiring representation was greater than or equal to representation for women and all racial and ethnic minority groups except Native American and Alaska Native.
• At Microsoft, we are committed to the principle of pay equity, which accounts for factors that legitimately influence total pay including things like job title, level and tenure. As of September 2023:
  • Inside the U.S., all racial and ethnic minority groups who are rewards-eligible combined earn $1.007 total pay for every $1.000 earned by U.S. rewards-eligible white employees with the same job title and level and considering tenure.
  • Inside the U.S., women who are rewards-eligible earn $1.007 total pay for every $1.000 earned by rewards-eligible employees who are men and have the same job title and level, and considering tenure; outside the U.S., women who are rewards-eligible earn $1.003 total pay for every $1.000 earned by rewards-eligible employees who are men and have the same job title and level, and considering tenure.
• Last year, we began voluntarily disclosing median unadjusted pay analysis, which gathers the total pay amounts for all employees across a company — regardless of factors such as job title, level or tenure — sorts those amounts by value, and then identifies the number that’s in the middle, or median, of all of those data points. The difference between that median pay amount for any two employee groups is referred to as a median unadjusted pay gap.
  • As of September 2023, our analysis shows that we have made progress in narrowing the median unadjusted pay gap for women in the U.S., women outside of the U.S., and Asian, Black and African American, and Hispanic and Latinx employees in the U.S.
  • As we continue to increase representation for women and racial and ethnic minority groups at more senior levels, and continue to ensure pay equity for all, the gap between the medians will continue to reduce.

New data

Hires data: As one of the most transparent companies of our size when it comes to the diversity and inclusion data we share, we are continually evaluating where we are now and where we aim to be. That is why, in addition to the extensive data we already share, we’re reporting on external hires representation for women and men globally and race and ethnicity in the U.S. for the first time. This data reflects the hires of members of a particular group as a percentage of total employee hires within the respective fiscal year. Hires representation being higher than headcount representation is one of the factors that could increase a group’s representation in the workforce. This past fiscal year, hires representation was greater than headcount representation for women as well as Asian, Black and African American, Hispanic and Latinx, and multiracial employees.

Self-ID data: At Microsoft, Self-ID helps us recognize the different identities, experiences and needs of the entire workforce. Through voluntary Self-ID, employees can help Microsoft make better-informed, more inclusive decisions about meaningful benefits and programs that meet their needs in various stages of life, flex to their interests, and enrich their lives. Self-ID is available globally in 46 markets with some variation, as dictated by local laws, practices and customs. We continue to evolve self-identification options for employees to be as inclusive as possible.

This year, we’re sharing more self-identification (Self-ID) data on Asian sub-identities in the U.S. to further highlight the importance of identity and the impact of self-identification. This comes after expanding the options for Asian employees in the U.S. who want to identify their backgrounds in additional detail last year. The Asian community is the single largest racial and ethnic minority group within our company, with more than 20 sub-identities.

Employee survey data

In addition to our demographic data, we share employee survey data in our D&I report each year, which helps us assess the impact of our D&I efforts so we can better understand how to close the gap between the culture of inclusion we aspire to and the lived experiences of everyone at Microsoft. We have continued to invest in experiences, behavior and organization changes, as well as prioritization of retention and development. This year, meaningful insights include:

• This year, 96.4% of employees reported some level of awareness of the concept of allyship, which is a cornerstone of our growth mindset approach to D&I. This is up from 90.3% in 2022 and 65.0% in 2019, when we first started asking employees about their awareness.
• The average score for the survey question asking employees if they understand what is expected of them to contribute to a more diverse and inclusive environment increased from 82 to 84 globally year over year, and from 80 to 83 in the U.S. Additionally, the average score increased year over year for men, women and every racial and ethnic group.

Inclusion spotlights

While data is important, it does not tell the whole story. Through six Inclusion Spotlights, this year’s report shares more details on some of the people, programs and initiatives that demonstrate how we invest in and innovate for D&I.

• Global strategy, local implementation: We explore how the global Microsoft workforce activated around D&I this past year in ways relevant and meaningful to local employees and communities to drive positive change.
• Inclusion from the start: We shine a spotlight on New Employee Orientation (NEO) as well as the Nuance acquisition and explore ways we introduce a culture of inclusion to new employees or integrate companies we acquire into our inclusive culture.
• Self-expression in our products: We connect how technical and D&I expertise come together to inform new self-expression tools, including profile videos, pronouns and name pronunciation.
• Innovative learning: We delve into some of our learning offerings, informed by a range of communities and experts, that enable employees to deepen their understanding and take intentional action for meaningful progress.
• D&I Core Priority: We share the evolution and impact of the D&I Core Priority, an accountability approach that sets Microsoft apart.
• AI & D&I: We look at how we build trust through our responsible AI strategy and inclusive AI solutions.

As we look ahead, we are unwavering in our focus to attract, develop and retain a workforce that reflects a diversity of backgrounds, skills and experiences. We support employees’ careers through intentional talent management, access and career mobility across all levels of our organization. To further support this, our team and my role have recently evolved to include talent development efforts in addition to global D&I work. This organizational alignment allows us to further embed D&I into all our talent practices in an effort to accelerate representation progress.

We believe our continued work to build diverse workforces and strengthen our culture of inclusion helps foster innovation and serve our business and customer needs. I am confident that our combined momentum and commitment will only fuel additional ways for us to leverage our resources with intention, driving progress toward a more diverse and inclusive Microsoft.

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Source: The Official Microsoft Blog