Diversity & Inclusion Report
Bold in our vision, unwavering in our focus
Innovation Spotlights
Global strategy, local implementation
The vast diversity of cultures, communities, and community concerns presents an opportunity to advance D&I on a global scale, while also remaining contextually relevant at the local level.
Anchoring on core concepts
Our D&I efforts are anchored to our globally consistent core concepts of allyship, covering, privilege, and unconscious bias, a shared framework that enhances our comprehension of D&I in various contexts.
Activating locally
In the UK, Nigeria, Greater China Region, and beyond, leaders and teams activated D&I this year in ways that are relevant to local employees and surface critical conversations to accelerate positive change.
Harnessing global perspectives
We invite in and engage with global perspectives, because we believe they are critically important to our work to create a more inclusive world for communities, customers, and partners.
Leaders set the tone
Leaders from Japan and Latin America share more about how we activate D&I locally and engage the broader ecosystem. Conversations, data, and feedback help identify the issues and topics that matter most.
Inclusion from the start
For Microsoft employees, the expectations, opportunities, and impact of an inclusive workplace culture start from the first day, whether they’re hired externally or join as part of an acquisition.
New Employee Orientation
During New Employee Orientation, as employees are introduced to Microsoft's mission, values, and culture, they're also introduced to Microsoft's D&I efforts aligned to the mission and values of the company.
First day, first impressions
We survey employees who participate in New Employee Orientation, and feedback includes insights such as: “The inclusion and diversity stories helped to really put into context and reinforce why I came here.”
Nuance comes on board
In 2023, Microsoft integrated Nuance. Ahead of the official transition, employees built relationships and strengthened a sense of inclusion through connections between Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).
Hackathon helps connect
Early collaboration between Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) ERG and Black Employees in Nuance Group (BEING) led to a joint Hackathon project aimed at improving healthcare for racial and ethnic minority communities.
Self-expression in our products
People do their best work when they can be themselves and feel accepted for who they are. Self-expression tools in Microsoft 365 help users better connect, collaborate, and thrive.
Profile videos
Microsoft 365 profile videos are short, personalized videos created by users to introduce themselves to people they interact with virtually, replicating how people introduce themselves in the real world.
Name pronunciation
A new tool within Microsoft 365 gives users the opportunity to record the correct way to pronounce their names, fostering connections that are much more comfortable and personal.
Pronouns
Correctly using someone’s pronouns helps build trust and improve communication. A new feature allows people to specify their pronouns in their Microsoft 365 profile and see others’ pronouns if they choose to share.
Advancing intentionally
Our approach to self-expression tools and features is always mindful of user needs, user safety, and global contexts. Users are empowered to share only what and when they choose.
Innovative learning
We create tailored, customized, expert - and community–informed D&I learning so that employees can deepen their understanding and take intentional action for meaningful progress.
Required D&I learning
We require foundational learning for all employees on the concepts of allyship, covering, unconscious bias, and privilege, developed in partnership with leading academics and grounded in neuroscience.
Learning pathways
Through personalized learning, more than 20,000 employees have participated in D&I Learning Pathways, choosing paths on D&I basics, core D&I concepts, or identity-based topics such as race and gender.
Immersive simulation
We’ve introduced immersive simulated workplace scenarios where employees can practice their skills around topics such as micro-messages, receiving real-time feedback that fosters lasting behavior change.
Religion and faith in the workplace
Microsoft continues to evolve the conversation on religion and faith in the workplace through efforts such as partnering with external experts and introducing a Religion and Faith Learning Pathway.
D&I Core Priority
We expect everyone to actively participate in creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. We ask all employees to set an annual performance and development goal related to D&I, known as the D&I Core Priority.
Shared responsibility
For every employee at Microsoft, the D&I Core Priority is a set of actions based on ongoing personal reflection, which includes an intentional discussion with their manager, to help advance inclusion.
Step 1: Decide on focus areas
Each employee personalizes their D&I Core Priority to align with their role and interests. Step 1 is to decide on focus areas, such as participating in Employee Resource Groups, or practicing allyship.
Step 2: Define success
If an employee chooses to practice allyship, for example, success could involve completing a Learning Pathway, demonstrating how they applied learnings, and investing in dialogue and connection with others.
Step 3: Summarizing impact
In preparation for their performance and development conversation, employees are asked to reflect on their impact, sharing specific examples related to positive impact.
AI and D&I
As the pace of innovation and potential for AI grows, we’re focusing on how we advance the state of AI across a range of social and economic contexts while also being inclusive.
Critical global perspectives
We've partnered with the Strategic Foresight Hub at the Stimson Center on a fellowship program, bringing global thought leaders together to advance a discussion on the applications and impacts of AI.
Teams that represent the world
Representation across AI teams is crucial so we can develop technology that reflects all users. We enable leaders to build these teams through coaching and deepening understanding of privilege, power, and bias.
Digital upskilling
With customers, we’re developing solutions that empower underrepresented people through digital upskilling, such as AI-powered Mentra, which connects neurodivergent job seekers with opportunities.
Increasing accessibility
AI is behind some of the biggest strides we’ve made in accessibility. Our products offer a range of accessibility solutions including speech-to-text and captioning, Narrator, Immersive Reader, and Seeing AI.
Continued progress
Representation and inclusion
This past year we made representation progress across various categories, for many of the communities highlighted in our report*. Yet we have more work to do.
Global women
Representation of women in our core global workforce grew 0.5 percentage points to 31.2% year over year, and has increased 3.6 percentage points since 2019.
US Black and African American
Black and African American representation in our core US workforce rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.7% year over year, and has increased 2.2 percentage points since 2019.
US Hispanic and Latinx
Hispanic and Latinx representation in our core US workforce rose 0.3 percentage points year over year, and has increased 1.7 percentage points since 2019.
Demonstrating allyship
84.6% of employees agreed or strongly agreed that their coworkers demonstrate allyship in the workplace, making an effort to understand, empathize, and act in support of others.
Racial Equity Initiative
Pay equity
Pay equity highlights
Our pay equity analysis* accounts for factors, like job, title, level, and tenure in support of our commitment to pay employees equitably for substantially similar work. As of September 2023:
Racial and ethnic minorities in the US
Inside the US, all racial and ethnic minority groups who are rewards-eligible combined earn $1.007 total pay for every $1.000 earned by US rewards eligible white employees with the same job title and level and considering tenure.
Women in the US
Inside the US, 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.
Women outside of the US
Outside the US, women who are rewards-eligible earn $1.003 total pay for every $1.000 earned by men who are rewards eligible with the same job title and level and considering tenure in these combined geographies.
Self-identification in the US
Self-identification, US and globally
When employees opt to participate in self-ID, the data helps us create a more inclusive experience for employees, informing principled program decisions on benefits, resourcing, and support.
Gender identity and sexual orientation
We offer employees the choice to identify based on their sexual orientation, gender identity (including options beyond binary gender terms), and/or as transgender in 26 countries including the US.
Dimensions of Asian identity
The Asian community is the largest racial and ethnic minority group in our company, encompassing more than 20 sub-identities. This year for the first time we share US data about these identities.
Military status
We offer employees the choice to identify as a person with military experience in 38 countries including the US. With this option, we aim to create more visibility and support for the community.
Employees with disabilities
To better understand and support employees with disabilities, we encourage people to voluntarily self-identify as having a disability. We currently offer this option in 46 countries including the US.
More than just numbers
2023 data highlights
The data* shows our steadfast commitment to the D&I work is yielding positive change. We will continue to push ourselves to understand more, share more, and do more.
Women in technical roles
Year-over-year representation growth of women in technical roles outpaced overall representation of women, increasing 0.8 percentage points to 26.6%.
US disability status
8.8% of US employees in our core Microsoft business self-identified as having a disability. This is a 1.0 percentage point increase from 2022.
US military status
4.8% of US employees in our core Microsoft business self-identified as having served in the US Armed Forces or as having Protected Veteran status. This is a 0.1 percentage points increase from 2022.
Contribute to D&I
More than the previous year, employees understand what’s expected of them to contribute to a diverse and inclusive environment. The average score for this rose from 82 to 84 globally, and 80 to 83 in the US.
*Data on this page is reflective of our core Microsoft business, which represents 83.8% of our broader Microsoft workforce and excludes minimally integrated companies.
A mission-driven priority
Our diversity and inclusion reports document our data, progress, and inclusion journey. With each report, we renew our commitment to our mission to consciously, intentionally include everyone.
Access previous D&I reports
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2015-2022
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