Employees and Human Resources at Microsoft

Headcount

• 2022 - 221 000 person
• 2021 - 190 000 person
• 2020 - 144 000 person
• 2016 - 114 000 person
• 2015 - 120 000 person
• 2008 - 89,809 people
• 2007 - 78,565 people

2024: Microsoft fires thousands of employees in gaming business

At the end of January 2024, Microsoft Corporation announced the reorganization of its gaming division. The procedure provides for a reduction in the headcount of the Microsoft Gaming group by about 8%.

The changes were announced by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. According to him, the company needs to agree on a development strategy with a cost structure. Therefore, it was decided to dismiss about 1900 employees with a total staff of the gaming unit of 22 thousand people (at the end of January 2024). The cuts will primarily affect the Activision Blizzard team, acquired for $68.7 billion. In addition, Xbox and ZeniMax departments will be affected. Dismissed workers will receive severance pay and other support. At the same time, the corporation intends to continue investing in areas that are expected to help strengthen the business.

It is also reported that Blizzard President Mike Ybarra and one of the co-founders of this company Allen Adham decided to resign. Adam served as chief designer of Blizzard. The previously announced project to create a survival simulator in the new universe is canceled. Microsoft will transfer some of the employees who worked on this game to "one of several promising new Blizzard projects in the early stages of development."

We say goodbye to some of our colleagues. It's a complicated process, but it will help Blizzard and Xbox develop exciting games across a variety of platforms. We are implementing a more focused Microsoft Gaming strategy that will ensure sustainable growth in the long term and allow us to align resources with key priorities, says Microsoft President of Gaming Content Matt Booty[1]

2023

The negligence of a Microsoft employee led to the hacking of the mail of the US Secretary of Commerce and 25 government agencies around the world

On September 6, 2023, Microsoft released the results of a cyber incident investigation, as a result of which hackers were able to hack into the email of the US Secretary of Commerce and 25 government agencies around the world.

The cyber campaign was reported by Microsoft and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency (CISA) in mid-July 2023. Attackers were able to gain unauthorized access to the mailbox of US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. The organization of the attack is attributed to the Chinese hacker group Storm-0558.

As the investigation showed, cybercriminals managed to extract and steal the MSA cryptographic key (Microsoft account consumer signing key) from the Windows emergency memory dump - a snapshot of the state of RAM containing debugging information. This key was then used to fake authentication tokens. As a result, we managed to carry out successful attacks on Exchange Online and Azure Active Directory (AD).

It turned out that the attackers stole the key after hacking the corporate account of one of the Microsoft engineers who had access to the debugging environment. It is noted that usually emergency memory dumps do not contain cryptographic keys. However, as a result of a client signature system failure in April 2021, the MSA key still got into a snapshot of the state of RAM, which was used by cybercriminals. Moreover, Microsoft security tools did not reveal the presence of a cryptographic key in the emergency dump. The Redmond Corporation says that following the investigation, it has made the necessary changes to its policies to prevent similar situations in the future. In addition, additional tools for analyzing the contents of dumps have been introduced.^[2]

Firing the AI ethics team

In mid-March 2023, it became known that Microsoft had completely disbanded the team of artificial intelligence ethics specialists.

According to the resource Platformer, the layoffs were carried out as part of a large-scale staff reduction program, which affected approximately 10 thousand employees of the Redmond corporation. According to current and former employees, this decision leaves Microsoft without a special team that would ensure a close connection between the principles of AI and the development of software products at a time when the company is implementing a strategy to create publicly available solutions based on neural networks.

Microsoft's AI ethics team was at its highest in 2020, with about 30 employees, including engineers, designers and other professionals. In October 2023, the unit's staff was reduced to seven people as part of a reorganization. One of the team's latest projects was to identify the risks associated with Microsoft's introduction of OpenAI technologies into its products and services. Former employees say the ethics team played a crucial role in ensuring that the principles of responsible AI are actually reflected in the design of the products supplied.

Experts say that, on the one hand, the liquidation of the division will allow Microsoft to accelerate the launch of advanced AI-based products on the commercial market, which will give an advantage to competitors. On the other hand, as noted, neural network technologies harbor certain risks, and therefore, without a thorough assessment of the functionality of AI products, problems may arise.

Microsoft strives to safely and responsibly develop products based on artificial intelligence and does so by investing in labor, business processes and partnerships, the corporation said.[3]

Dismissal of 10 thousand employees

On January 18, 2023, Microsoft announced a reorganization aimed at optimizing costs and strengthening key business areas. As part of this initiative, thousands of employees will be laid off.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the restructuring. The company is going through a time of significant change, he said. Against the background of the current macroeconomic situation, the crisis in the United States and high inflation, Microsoft intends to focus investments on strategic areas. This will help ensure growth in the long term. But the reorganization requires a reduction in headcount.

Today we are making changes that will lead to a reduction in our total workforce by 10,000 employees by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2023 (ending March 31, 2023). This represents less than 5% of our total state. I'm sure Microsoft will become stronger and more competitive. This is a difficult decision, but it is necessary. I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has contributed to Microsoft up to this point, "Nadella wrote.

The layoffs will affect various Microsoft divisions in all regions. In particular, on June 30, 2022, the company employed approximately 221,000 full-time employees, including 122,000 in the United States and 99,000 in other countries. The costs associated with the restructuring will amount to $1.2 billion. Employees who fall under the reduction program will receive a corresponding notification 60 days before the end of work. Microsoft will provide them with severance pay and health insurance for six months. In addition, the corporation will help former workers in employment in a new place. Microsoft employees outside the United States will receive financial and other support in accordance with employment laws in each country.^[4]

2022: July lay-off of 1,800 staff

2021

Microsoft has increased its staff by 23 thousand employees

By the end of September 2021, 2021, the number of Microsoft employees worldwide reached almost 190 thousand people, which is 23.5 thousand more, or 14% than a year earlier. According to GeekWire, the new figures released by Microsoft along with the quarterly profit report represent the largest annual growth in the number of employees in the history of the company, with the exception of the acquisition of Nokia's device and service business in 2014. Growth in 2020 occurred despite the global pandemic COVID-19 and the tense situation in the labor market, which influenced the hiring of employees in many companies.

Most of Microsoft's growth has occurred internationally. About 14 thousand new employees, or 60% of the total number of net employees for 2020, were accepted outside the United States. Despite the rapid international growth, the United States is still the majority of Microsoft employees as of October 28, 2021, in the amount of 107 thousand people, or 57% of the total number of employees worldwide.

In 2011-2021, Microsoft more than doubled, from about 90 thousand employees in 2011 to 189 thousand as of September 30, 2021. Due to this growth, the total share of the company's employees engaged in operating activities increased, and the share of employees engaged in research and development decreased. For comparison, in 2011 the ratio was 21 thousand or 23% in operations, 35 thousand or 39% in research and development of products, and 25 thousand or 27% in sales and marketing and 9 thousand or 10% in general and administrative functions.

Microsoft's publicly disclosed employment figures do not include employees who work on the company's projects on a contract basis or through external suppliers, which is a large additional labor force, which collectively amounts to tens of thousands of people.^[5]

Introduction of mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for office employees

On August 3, 2021, Microsoft announced the introduction of mandatory vaccination against the COVID-19 coronavirus for office employees. The new rules will come into force in a month - in September.

All employees, suppliers and visitors to Microsoft offices in the United States will have to present a certificate of vaccination against COVID-19. For visitors who are not vaccinated due to contraindications and other valid reasons, separate admission rules will be established.

Employees with children who cannot yet be vaccinated against coronavirus, or those who care for immunocompromised relatives, will be able to work from home until January 2022. Microsoft also announced that it would not resume full office operations until October 4, 2021. Earlier, the corporation wanted to do this on September 7th. In the United States, the number of Microsoft personnel is about 100 thousand people (as of August 2021).

We continue to analyze the situation at the local level in each region, country and state where we work, and we will adjust the dates and rules if necessary... As at the beginning of the pandemic, we continue to monitor the development of events and adapt our plans in accordance with this, giving priority to the health and safety of personnel, the corporation said on August 3, 2021.

Microsoft is not the first American technology company to decide to introduce mandatory vaccination against coronavirus. Earlier, Facebook and Google said employees should be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning from remote work to offices. Google CEO Sundara Pichai said that the requirement for mandatory vaccination of employees will first apply to offices in the United States, after which it will be extended to units in other countries. Employees of the company will be vaccinated in accordance with local laws.^[6]

Bill Gates quits Microsoft over office romance

In mid-May 2021, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article reporting the reason for Bill Gates' departure from the Microsoft board of directors. According to informants of the publication, the co-founder of the company stopped participating in its activities due to an official affair with one of the employees. Read more here.

2020

Microsoft left employees in remote work until October

In early May 2020, it became known that Microsoft employees will work remotely until October. The company allows workers not to come to the office due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

As a Microsoft representative told Business Insider, even if the authorities lift quarantine and other measures to isolate people, the company will allow employees to continue to work from home. This does not apply to personnel whose specifics of work imply a mandatory presence in the office.

Microsoft was among the first companies to call on its employees to work from home when the coronavirus infection COVID-19 began to spread in Seattle. The number of Microsoft staff in Seattle and offices nearby is about 54 thousand people. Most of them work at their headquarters in Redmond.

Microsoft began transferring employees to "remote" from March 5, 2020. After that, the company extended the validity of these measures several times.

Microsoft believes that after the removal of isolation measures, employees of many companies will want to continue working from home instead of returning to the office. The company attributes this to the fact that people will learn to work effectively without face-to-face meetings and will appreciate the advantages of being more flexible compared to the schedule office.

According to the Statista service, by the beginning of May 2020, Microsoft has about 144 thousand employees, including 85 thousand people in the United States.

Microsoft is taking other measures to combat the spread of a new type of coronavirus. Thus, the company intends to hold almost all of its conferences online in fiscal year 2021 (starting at the end of June 2020 calendar year). Events such as Microsoft Ignite 2020, Ignite The Tour, the MVP Summit 2021 and Build 2021 are planned to be held without spectators in the hall. In addition, the company intends not to send its representatives to third-party conferences in fiscal 2021.^[7]

A Ukrainian who worked at Microsoft went to prison for 20 years for stealing $10 million from the company

At the end of February 2020, the court found Vladimir Kvaschuk guilty of stealing $10 million in digital currency from Microsoft while working for the company. Read more here.

Microsoft combines hardware development and Windows

In early February 2020, it became known about a restructuring at Microsoft, in which the hardware and operating systems development units of Windows were merged into one - Windows + Devices. The new structure was headed by Microsoft Product Development Director Panos Panay. He will report to Experiences and Device Executive Vice President Rajesh Jha.

The joint development of hardware and software will allow us to better fulfill our long-term goals regarding Windows (dual screen, chip diversity, connectivity, application platform, etc.). With a single Windows Client Experience management framework that provides consistent priorities as well as resources across all Windows clients, we can accelerate innovation and improve leadership, Panay wrote in a letter to company employees (a copy was published by the publication ZDNet).[8]

According to him, the permutations made in the structure of Microsoft "will improve Windows work for the entire computer ecosystem."

Restructuring includes more than just consolidating device and operating systems development departments. Other changes have occurred:

• Eran Megiddo, corporate vice president of Windows Product & Education, will lead the Modern Life Experiences (MLX) and Education group;
• Brian McDonald, who currently heads Teams, is retiring from Microsoft;
• Jeff Tepper will now lead Teams along with SharePoint and OneDrive;
• Joe Belfiore and Ales Holecek will lead the Office Experience Group (OXO) team as a product development/engineering team. Joe Belfiore will continue to lead Microsoft News and other mobile projects.

2019

Microsoft moved office to 4-day work week and increased labor productivity by 40%

In early November 2019, Microsoft spoke about the results of an experiment to transfer the Japanese office to a four-day working week. The company claims that the innovation has increased the productivity of personnel by 40%.

The pilot lasted one month as part of the Work Life Choice Challenge 2019 Summer. Employees were not reduced by salaries and did not take days from annual leave, but they were given advice on personal development and family well-being. Most of the meetings, which previously could take several hours, were postponed online and limited to 30 minutes.

92% of employees who were allowed not to work on Friday said that they were satisfied with the new schedule. Of the downsides, they called what they found difficult to rest on Friday knowing others were working.

Microsoft reported that employees working four days a week were less likely to take time off. Of the positive changes, they also noted the transition to discussions online, a 23% reduction in electricity consumption, and 58% in paper consumption.

Due to the reduction in working hours, employees admitted that they had to transfer meetings to a virtual space, preferring chats. The company estimated that electricity consumption decreased by 21.1% over the month and paper consumption decreased by 58.7%.

The Japanese branch of Microsoft plans to conduct another labor experiment in the winter - employees will not be provided with additional paid weekends, but will be encouraged to leave on their own initiative.^[9]

In Russia, the initiative to switch to a four-day working week was put forward by  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. In his opinion, an extra day off will increase labor efficiency and productivity, while maintaining salaries at the same level.

5 Perfect Resume Rules from Microsoft

In mid-October 2019, the American business magazine Inc. published five rules for the perfect resume from Microsoft. It is thought it takes just six seconds for Microsoft recruitment staff to decide whether a CV stands out from the total number of candidates. To quickly make a good first impression, Microsoft hiring experts recommend following the five simple rules below.

1. Legibility

Microsoft personnel recruitment specialist Maasa Walker suggests that everyone ask themselves a question - does the appearance of your resume allow you to quickly and easily read important information? Readable text with layout that balances style, font size, layout and design is an important CV quality that shouldn't be underestimated. In addition, you need to carefully check the resume for typos and punctuation errors - they make it difficult to read the document and can make an unpleasant impression.

2. Your Brief Description

While this is the traditional part of the CV, an objective assessment of your qualities can take up too much valuable space. The summary should be brief and understandable and not exceed one page in volume. Instead of confusing explanations, Walker suggests introducing an opening paragraph that accurately describes your identity and helps the hiring specialist instantly evaluate you and, from a new point of view, look at the rest of the information.

3. Shorten the skills section

Microsoft hiring employee Chris Bell said that he saw lists of skills that occupied three to four lines of resumes. At the same time, they took away precious space from other important information and scattered the attention of the inspector. Bell recommends that you do not list all your skills - it is better to simply describe the most important skills that already imply knowledge of other skills, and omit those that are completely unnecessary at the moment. Consider tailoring your knowledge to the position you are applying for and focus only on the skills that will be most relevant in the future.

4. Demonstrate what you have already done

Personnel pickers want to understand what you have already done and how your actions have affected the world around you. You don't just need to list all the positions you hold. You may have been selling at home in your last job. Good. How much did you sell? Did your sales method further benefit the previous employer, did it increase its popularity? What role did you play in promoting the company? Make sure your approvals directly relate to the position you are applying for: tailor your experience to a new job and characterise exactly the skill set you will need in the future.

5. Simplicity

As for the organization of resumes, large blocks of text should be avoided, which can hide important information and tire the reader. Using markers, wide fields and blanks, you can highlight individual important components of your CV. As hiring experts say, you just "let the main information come to the surface freely," where it will attract attention. Adhere to simple formatting and organization, do not overload the document. Tell us directly and briefly why you consider yourself an outstanding candidate. As Walker emphasizes, personnel staff can agree with one statement: "focus on what matters."^[10]

Average salary - $148,068

In September 2019, the recruiting portal Glassdoor published a rating of American companies with the highest salaries. At Microsoft, the average annual salary of employees was $148,068 . Read more here.

Ukrainian programmer Microsoft stole $10 million from the company to buy a Tesla house and electric car

On July 17, 2019, Seattle prosecutors indicted Ukrainian Volodymyr Kvaschuk, 25, for stealing money from Microsoft. The company's former programmer spent the stolen digital currency on expensive purchases. Read more here.

90% of Microsoft employees do not use passwords

In early May 2019, it became known that Microsoft allows 90% of employees to log into the corporate network without a password, despite the huge number of cyber attacks. The policy of not using passwords is aimed at reducing vulnerability to the most common types of hacker attacks.

Microsoft cybersecurity director Bret Arsenault called it the first step in the "password-free future" that the company has been striving for for several years. In an attempt to eliminate the need for employees to remember confusing phrases, Microsoft has developed several alternative options for logging into a computer network, such as Windows Hello and the Microsoft Authenticator application. They use technologies such as facial recognition and fingerprint reading.

Bret Arsenault said that one of the most common types of cyber attacks remains attacks based on the selection of frequently used passwords - hackers do not hack an account, they simply log in. And when a hacker accesses the network through one employee, they can cause serious damage to the entire company, such as stealing corporate information or impersonating an employee. The most reliable means of protecting against Password Spraying attacks is to completely refuse to use passwords.

Microsoft promotes a policy of refusing passwords not only among employees, but also among users - for example, in January 2019, the company released a new version of the Windows 10 operating system, where user authorization can be carried out by code sent to the phone via SMS.

Microsoft is not the only company following the password waiver policy. Google and Cisco are also testing alternative options, CNBC said.^[11]

Microsoft employees told how they are humiliated and harassed in the company

In early April 2019, Microsoft employees told how they were humiliated and harassed by the company. In 2018, the company was already at the center of the harassment scandal and promised to change internal policies to help its employees, but the latest news allows us to doubt the effectiveness of these measures.

A new wave of outrage rose on March 20, 2019, when one of the employees wrote a letter to the human resources department asking for a promotion after 6 years of impeccable work in the company. That led to dozens of stories of discrimination and harassment that grew into more than 90 pages of emails from employees at the company who complained about cases of sexual harassment. One of the women said that during a work trip, one of the employees of the partner company threatened to kill her if she refused to make a sexual contact. Microsoft was unable to do anything, citing a lack of evidence.

Other women reported being repeatedly called "bitches." Another employee said that when working on one project, management ignored her technical skills and gave mainly administrative tasks, despite the status. It was also reported about a case when a girl was asked to sit on someone's knees at one of the meetings with company leaders. Human resources department managers and staff routinely ignored these complaints, victims said, saying men "just flirt."

Microsoft human resources department of manager Kathleen Hogan replied that she was disappointed with the incidents and promises to consider all complaints. Hogan calls on all Microsoft employees affected by discrimination and harassment, including those who left the company due to such cases, to write to her directly^[12]

2018

Microsoft demanded a paid decree from partners

On August 30, 2018, Microsoft announced the requirements for partners in terms of maternity leave. By its actions, the software giant expects to support the birth rate, as it does among its employees.

According to a Microsoft blog post, the company began requiring partners and suppliers to provide employees with at least 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for parental care and pay them up to $1,000 a week. True, this order applies only to American companies with a staff of more than 50 people and "employees doing significant work for Microsoft." What exactly is the "essential work" is not specified. It is only known that the innovation will take effect in 2019 and will affect both the families who gave birth to children and those who adopted them.

We have long understood that the health, well-being and many faces of our employees help Microsoft to succeed, "said Microsoft legal adviser Dev Stahlkopf.

The corporation intends to provide partners with support in terms of compliance with the new policy, and in doing so it understands that "ultimately this could lead to rising costs for Microsoft."

According to Axios, thousands of people will be able to receive a paid decree, since Microsoft has more than 1000 partners in the United States. Some states already have laws that mandate paid parental leave, such as California. Authorities in Washington state, where Microsoft is headquartered, introduced mandatory paid parental leave in 2017, an initiative that will take effect in 2020.^[13]

According to Stalkopf, Microsoft did not wait for the implementation of the initiative, which, moreover, will not affect other states with thousands of valuable employees.

238 women's complaints of discrimination and sexual harassment

On March 13, 2018, it became known that between 2010 and 2016 , women working for Microsoft in the positions of technical specialists filed 238 complaints about discrimination or sexual harassment. Until some time, these complaints remained within the company.

  Of 118 complaints to company executives about discrimination filed by women at Microsoft, only one was found to be "substantiated," according to unclassified legal documents. Lawyers called the number of complaints "shocking" and Microsoft's management response "unconvincing."

Microsoft said the plaintiffs could not give  a single example of payment or promotion problems proving a violation of corporate policy by Microsoft.

The data on harassment of women was released by plaintiffs who sued Microsoft for systematically refusing to raise or promote women in the weaker sex .  Microsoft denies the existence of such a policy.

The lawsuit,  sent to Seattle federal court back in 2015, was widely publicized because a number of powerful men in show business, media and politics resigned or were fired because of illegal sexual behavior, Reuters reported.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs are trying to file a class action civil lawsuit, to which about 8 thousand women can join. Details of Microsoft's personnel policy became known on March 12, 2018 from legal documents filed as part of this process.

In March 2018, the parties continued to exchange documents pending a trial that had not yet been set a date.

US District Judge James Robart will rule on the plaintiffs' request for group status. The timing of the verdict has not been announced.^[14]

2017

The scandal of calling prostitutes from work computers

In December 2017, Newsweek journalists got into the hands of emails from employees of leading American IT corporations addressed to pimps and underground brothels in Seattle. Correspondence with those who earn money from the sex trade and services of prostitutes from Asia was conducted directly from work computers.

Among the emails the publication provided in response to a request to the Kings County District Attorney's Office, 67 messages were sent from Microsoft's corporate email addresses and 63 from work accounts. Amazon In addition, there are dozens of other letters written by employees, Boeing T-Mobile, Oracle and employees of smaller Seattle IT firms in the compromising evidence.

Correspondence to law enforcement officers fell as a result of operations carried out from 2014 to 2016 to suppress the activities of brothels. Some of the letters were received in 2015 during an undercover operation, as a result of which 18 people were detained, two of whom turned out to be high-ranking employees of Amazon and Microsoft.

According to the publication, the Seattle sex industry has developed in parallel with the local technology industry. According to some studies, it is the IT staff, the vast majority of whom are men who spend the day on computers, who are considered the most avid lovers of prostitutes.

The world of technology not only employs a significant number of men who pay for sex and resort to the services of prostitutes. With the help of technology, it became easier for pimps to contact potential customers and hide their illegal business from the police, which has now migrated from the streets to the Internet. A 2014 study showed that almost 6.5 thousand people a day in Seattle offer sex services on one of more than 100 sites where strawberry sellers and buyers find each other.

A study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice found Seattle has the fastest-growing sex industry in the United States, with illegal sex trafficking increasing more than twofold from 2005 to 2012. Observers note that this boom correlates well with the rise in the local technology sector and with the growth in the number of high-paying positions. This is understandable: not everyone can afford love for money.

According to Seattle authorities, some men spend up to $50,000 dollars a year on prostitutes. It is also reported that sex slaves from Asia serve hundreds of men daily in Seattle: for each there are from five to fifteen clients a day, with many women working on pain of physical harm or due to the debt bondage available.

In terms of the development of sex work near Seattle, the symbol of the high-tech industry, Silicon Valley, has also left. Silicon Valley, home to about 10% of California's population, has more than 700 Asian brothels hiding under the sign of massage parlors, about 20% of the total brothels believed to be active in that state, according to Polaris, one of the leading anti-trafficking and anti-sexual exploitation organizations for women.

In an interview with Alex Trouteaud of Demand Abolition, an organization that fights against sexual slavery, he noted that the tech industry willingly condones sex exploitation.

As part of measures to combat illegal sex work in 2015, Seattle police and prosecutors conducted an undercover special operation and closed several online resources where users shared their impressions of prostitutes from Asia, assessed their appearance and services. One woman and 17 men, including Amazon directors and Microsoft, were detained in the case. According to Newsweek, court hearings in this case were repeatedly postponed and were last postponed to March 2018.

The press service of Microsoft responded to the publication's request for comment that the corporation has always contributed to the fight against the trade in sex services by law enforcement officers, and that the inappropriate behavior of individual individuals does not in any way reflect the culture adopted by the corporation.

No organization is immune to the possibility of its employees acting unethically or breaking the law. If this happens, we consider the situation and take appropriate measures. Microsoft has clear rules: employees must always behave in accordance with laws and ethics. Otherwise, they risk losing their jobs, the corporation noted.

Amazon, to a similar request, said that they are conducting their own proceedings in connection with the incident, and that the purchase of sex services by employees during working hours or in circumstances related to work duties (during business trips or meetings) runs counter to corporation policy.

If Amazon suspects that an employee used the company's funds or resources for a crime, the company will immediately investigate the incident and take appropriate action up to and including dismissal. The company also reserves the right to report the incident to law enforcement, according to a report obtained by Newsweek.[15]

Building a cricket pitch at HQ

In December 2017, it became known about Microsoft's plans to build a cricket field on the territory of its headquarters. GeekWire notes that this project will be the first among American IT companies.

The fact that Microsoft is going to deploy a specialized cricket ground near the football field on the territory of its corporate town was written on its page on the social network LinkedIn by company representative Greg Shaw.

According to him, many Microsoft employees born in countries where cricket is highly popular (Sri India Lanka,, Pakistan Australia Bangladesh, South, etc.) Africa Britain play this sports game on campus, but do it on the fields for football or softball.

By 2022-2024, Microsoft is set to dramatically change its Redmond campus, and one of the points of the project is the construction of a cricket pitch. Its area will be 250 by 320 feet (76 by 98 meters).

It could be the first dedicated recreational cricket ground ever designed and built as part of a major corporate or community project in the United States, "Sho wrote.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been a cricket fan since childhood. In one of his interviews, he said that this game taught him to be a leader, and later these lessons were used by him to lead Microsoft.

Wherever I am, this game is always in my thoughts. Joy, memories, drama, difficulties, ups and downs - the game gives endless opportunities. In these fields, I learned a lot about myself. I've won and failed as a bowler, batter and fielder, "Nadella wrote in his book Hit Refresh.[16]

Microsoft - at the top of the list of IT companies from which they want to quit

In October 2017, Blind's anonymous communication service conducted a survey showing that Microsoft and Apple are the IT companies whose employees want to quit more. To determine which corporations' employees were least satisfied with wages, Blind users were asked a series of questions about work and monetary compensation, the most revealing of which were: "Do you think your work is adequately paid?" and "Would you like to change your place of work?." Read more here.

Support for anti-discrimination law on sexual orientation

In June 2017, Microsoft, Google, CBS, Viacom, as well as dozens of other American companies, called on a federal appeals court in Manhattan to support the introduction of a law prohibiting discrimination against workers on sexual grounds.

There is widespread bias against gay employees in the U.S., more than 40% of whom have experienced a variety of discrimination, according to multiple studies, according to a statement from big business officials. The absence of a federal law that explicitly prohibits this kind of attitude towards sexual minorities prevents hiring in places where there are no such workers, the companies note.

The introduction of a single federal law protecting workers from the LGBT community will benefit companies and the economy as a whole, as a barrier will be removed in recruiting and retaining employees, as well as a free stream of talented professionals, said lawyers for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, representing the interests of about 50 companies that opposed homophobia.

The agency Reuters notes that for the first time such a large group of companies supported the arguments against discrimination against people of non-traditional sexual orientation working in companies, which for many years were voiced by the LGBT community and the administration of the former American president. Barack Obama

Companies led by Microsoft and Google are also asking the court to reopen the case in which gay Donald Zarda was fired from his job as a skydiving instructor after a client complained of sexual harassment by a man during a free fall from an airplane. Zarda filed a lawsuit against the former employer, but subsequently crashed during another parachute jump.^[17]

It is worth noting that by the end of June 2017, the United States does not have a law that would require companies to serve all customers without taking into account their sexual orientation, but 21 states have laws prohibiting such discrimination against gays and lesbians. Among them are California, Illinois, Maryland and Maine.

Cut to 10% of the state

On July 6, 2017, Microsoft announced a global personnel reorganization, under which up to 3 thousand people will be laid off. The company is taking these measures to transform the business towards cloud services.

According to a clarifying message from Microsoft, referred to by Fortune, the number of jobs cut will not exceed 10% of the total, while 75% of the volume of layoffs will fall on foreign representative offices of the American corporation. To a greater extent, personnel cleaning will affect the staff employed in the sales sector.

Today we are starting to notify some employees that their jobs are being reviewed or will be liquidated. Like other companies, we regularly evaluate our business. This could lead to increased investment in some areas and a temporary redistribution of them in others, a Microsoft spokesman told CNBC.

According to him, the purpose of the layoffs is not to reduce costs, but to change the approach to sales. The idea is to use more experienced and knowledgeable employees so that they can sell more products per customer.

The company is downsizing after restructuring the division responsible for sales, marketing, operations and corporate technology. This structure with 51 thousand employees was headed by Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner, who resigned in 2016.

According to Bloomberg, the new reorganization of Microsoft is aimed at increasing attention to the cloud business, which is showing rapid growth. In January-March 2017, revenue from sales of Azure services rose by 93%.

At the same time, according to The Economist, the business associated with Azure continues to bring losses to the corporation, which is a big problem for Microsoft, which by 2020 expects to earn billions of dollars in the cloud ^[18]

2016

Forcing employees to watch child porn and murder videos

In December 2016, two former Microsoft employees sued the company, claiming psychological injuries due to viewing illegal content according to the company's official requirements.

The lawsuit was filed by Henry Soto and Greg Blauert, who worked for Microsoft on the Internet security team. Their duties included filtering online content, which must be deleted, reporting to the police if necessary. At work, Soto and Blauert had to view photos and videos of child pornography, murder, bestiality and sexual abuse.

In their lawsuit, the ex- Microsoft workers accused the company of indifferent attitude towards staff, discrimination on disability and violation of consumer protection law.

According to Henry Soto, in 2008, Microsoft management transferred him to the Internet security department, after which he had to work there for about a year and a half due to the peculiarities of the company's policy. After watching the video with the abuse and murder of the girl, the plaintiff began to hallucinate and nightmares.

Greg Blauert claims that as a result of numerous views of illegal content in 2013, his health deteriorated, PTSD happened, which he continues to treat by the end of 2016.

The former Microsoft employees who sued said the company failed to warn them about the nature of the job offered and then failed to provide psychological support and ignored suggestions to improve wellbeing. Employees of the Internet security unit were distracted from constantly watching porn and other prohibited materials only by walking, smoking and video games, the complaint says.

Microsoft itself denies the allegations and claims that the company offers employees working with illegal content health programs that include providing all the necessary resources and support.^[19]

Reduction of almost 3 thousand jobs

At the end of July 2016 Microsoft , it announced the reduction of almost 3 thousand jobs. The American corporation continues to optimize its business after acquiring telephone assets. Nokia

According to Reuters, citing a statement by Microsoft made on July 28, 2016, in the next 12 months it is planned to reduce the number of personnel by 2850 people in addition to the 1850 employees whose dismissal was announced at the end of May 2016. Then it was about reductions in the mobile unit.^[20]

Taking into account two stages of personnel cleaning, Microsoft's staff will decrease by 4,700 employees, which roughly corresponds to 4% of the state. As of June 30, 2016, the company employed about 114 thousand people full time.

According to Business Insider, the layoffs will affect many Microsoft divisions, including sales. 900 people from there have already been notified of the restructuring.

The Wall Street Journal, citing a Microsoft representative, writes that by the end of July 2016, the process of liquidating 9 thousand working positions in the division responsible for global sales was completed.^[21]

The layoffs are part of a massive mobile business restructuring program. Microsoft became a phone manufacturer in 2014, buying the corresponding business from Nokia. Then about 25 thousand employees of the Finnish company joined Microsoft. Subsequently, the American IT giant began to rapidly reduce the number of personnel.

Earlier, the Finnish edition of Helsingin Sanomat, citing an unnamed source, wrote that Microsoft would stop developing and producing mobile phones. Whether this will affect smartphones, the newspaper did not specify.

Microsoft itself noted that the company will continue to develop the Windows 10 Mobile platform and maintain support for Lumia smartphones. The company itself did not specify whether it was planned to create new smartphones.

2015

1,000 job cuts (1% of staff)

On October 22, 2015, Microsoft announced another job cuts. The company did not specify how many employees are planned to be laid off, but the media is aware of a specific number.

According to Microsoft, made on the day of the publication of the statements for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, the new liquidation of work positions is carried out as part of the company's adaptation to the needs of customers and concerns various departments and regions.

"The process is implemented in the most optimal way, in compliance with the interests of the dismissed employees," the Microsoft press service told The New York Times.

According to the publication, the software giant dismisses about 1000 employees, which corresponds to about 1% of the total number of personnel. This figure is confirmed by Bloomberg sources.

The new wave of cuts at Microsoft is in addition to a personnel purge that the corporation launched in 2014. Then it was planned to lay off about 7,800 people around the world, most of whom belong to Nokia's telephone business, acquired by Microsoft in the same 2014.

Downsizing is one of the measures Microsoft is taking to optimize costs. According to Amy Hood, CFO of the company, the savings will be used to develop new business areas.

"We've really focused

on reducing costs and getting money back into the business. We are creating new categories, entering new target markets and introducing new products, "Hood said

.

On October 22, 2015, the value of Microsoft shares during the extended exchange session increased by 8.3% to $52, which is the highest level since 2000. The rise in quotations came after the company reported earnings above Wall Street forecasts.^[22]

Women accuse Microsoft of wage discrimination

On September 16, 2015, it became known about a class action lawsuit against Microsoft, in which the American corporation is accused of gender discrimination, namely, of infringing on women's rights when it comes to appointing salaries and promotion.

A complaint in a federal court in Seattle (state Washington) USA was filed by former Microsoft technical specialist Katherine Moussouris, claiming that she could not get a promotion just because the leaders did not like her manner and style of clothing. Instead of Musuris, the position went to a less qualified male employee, complains the ex-employee of the software giant.

In addition, she said, she was once cut a premium for complaining about sexually harassing her.

The lawsuit notes that Microsoft practices a specific system of digital assessment of employees based on their efficiency and productivity, but in this hierarchy, women, compared to men, tend to score lower for subjective reasons.

"Microsoft systematically underestimates the efforts and merits of female technicians," said attorney Adam Klein, who represents Catherine Musuris.

The lawsuit she filed has a group form, and all Microsoft employees who have faced gender discrimination, who have held or held technical positions in the company since 2009, can join it. Catherine Musuris, having worked at the corporation for seven years, quit in 2014, explaining her departure by the inability of executives to solve the problem of restricting women's rights, which is quite common at Microsoft.

It is not known how many representatives of the weaker sex are ready to subscribe to accusations of sexual discrimination, therefore, the final amount of damage that the plaintiffs intend to recover cannot be determined. So far, the lawsuit is about compensation exceeding $5 million. As of mid-September 2015, Microsoft employs about 117 thousand people.^[23]

Stimulating the birth rate of employees

In early August 2015, Microsoft announced an increase in the period of paid maternity leave taken by employees due to the birth of a child. Thus, the software giant became one of the first American IT companies to start supporting the birth rate amid criticism of the country's government.

From November 1, 2015, Microsoft will pay 20 in full instead of 8 weeks of pregnancy leave. The new policy concerns both women and men who, for any reason, began caring for the child after his birth. As of July 21, 2015, Microsoft employs 117,345 people worldwide, 59,853 employees in the United States.

According to Microsoft's updated internal charter, pregnant girls can go on maternity leave two weeks before giving birth. In addition, the company promises additional premiums for various holidays, including President's Day and Martin Luther King Day.

Labor law in the United States allows companies to decide for themselves whether to pay for maternity leave for their employees and leave jobs for them. Mary Tavarozzi, senior benefits consultant at Towers Watson, told Reuters that the average paid maternity leave in the country is about 30 days.

In early 2015, US President Barack Obama called on Congress to provide federal employees with an additional six weeks of paid leave, bringing the total rest of newly minted parents to 12 weeks. At the same time, in private companies, according to the US Department of Labor, by mid-2015, only 12% of employees are entitled to any paid family leave.

Microsoft was one of the first in the American IT industry to increase concern for future parents. It was followed by Netflix and Adobe.^[24]

Reduction of 7,800 employees. Most in the phone business

On July 8, 2015, Microsoft announced another job cuts as part of a reorganization of the mobile business, due to which the American company was also forced to write off several billion dollars at a loss.

The company has decided to reduce headcount by about 7,800 employees worldwide, according to a statement made by Microsoft chief Satya Nadella. Most of the dismissed people are employed in the telephone business, which Microsoft began running in 2014, having bought the corresponding division from Nokia for $9.5 billion.

As of the end of March 2015, Microsoft had a staff of 120 thousand people. Thus, taking into account the liquidation of work positions announced in July 2015, the number of employees of the company will decrease by 6.5%. In Finland (in the homeland of Nokia), the number of employees of the manufacturer will decrease by 2300 people.

After Microsoft announced job cuts, the company's stock rose less than 1% in value. Since the beginning of 2015, vendor quotes have decreased by 4.6%.^[25]

Completion of the largest layoffs in the history of the company

In early April 2015, it became known about the completion of the largest personnel reorganization in Microsoft history. The last stage of this program affected the IT department of the American company.

On April 4, 2015, The Seattle Times, citing a Microsoft representative, published an article in which it announced the dismissal of several hundred employees in the corporation. The publication did not specify the number of liquidated working positions, but recalled that in January 2015, the software giant informed about 500 employees about their upcoming departure.^[26]

The reduction of Microsoft staff, which was announced in early April 2015, completed a restructuring program (began in July 2014), involving the dismissal of about 18 thousand employees. Most of the people who left the company were former employees of Nokia Corporation, who joined the American software manufacturer along with the telephone business of the Finnish vendor he bought.

The next stage of the largest personnel restructuring in Microsoft affected the IT department of the company

Initially, Microsoft hoped to complete the personnel transformation of the business by the end of the fiscal year, which will end on June 30, 2015. However, apparently, this process was completed earlier by several months.

The restructuring involved several rounds of declining Microsoft headcount. The last stage, which began in early April 2015, affected more IT employees. Its head, Jim Dubois, explained this step by the need to "remove duplicate positions, optimize the work and functions of personnel, discipline the IT department in accordance with other Microsoft structures and, most importantly, direct the work of IT specialists in the right direction."

It is worth noting that as a result of a personnel restructuring, Microsoft left the company not only ex-employees Nokia and representatives of the IT department, but also employees working in the research department, on Xbox projects MSN and solutions in the field, information security as well as a large number of people associated with technical and marketing activities.

2014: FBI arrests Russian employee for distributing Windows 8

According to the investigation, in July-August 2012, as an employee of Microsoft, Alexey Kibkalo distributed the Windows 8 RT code and the Microsoft Activation Server SDK, which the corporation uses for the activation system, through its own SkyDrive account. In addition, Kibkalo handed over the code created by Microsoft for distribution to a certain French technoblogger. More on the incident here.

2010: Features of Corporate Culture

In 2010, at interviews at Microsoft, applicants were asked unusual questions. The manager is not easy to unsettle with a request to solve the case on his profile topic, but distracted issues can confuse. This is especially true of Microsoft. When a candidate is asked why the manhole cover is made round, he is lost and does not know what to answer. They say the tradition of asking tricky questions was later adopted by Google. Thus, both companies test candidates for the ability to think outside the box. Not the worst quality in software development.

In 2010, the average Microsoft employee is a 38-year-old man with a salary of $106 thousand per year. Microsoft specialists call themselves softie. In total, the company employs 88,180 of these same softies, 50 thousand are listed in the American office, among them men prevail (76%).

Traditionally for 2010, every Microsoft employee celebrates the anniversary of his work with M&M's sweets. A festive feast dedicated to the next anniversary of work is not only a Russian folk tradition. Microsoft employees also have it. Only instead of cakes and booze for colleagues does the celebration come under the crunch of M&M's chocolates. The honored employee is required to "put" one pound of candy for each year of work.

In 2010, the inventors in the company have a special account. In addition to the $1.5 thousand premium for each patent, the employee receives a wooden "memorial plaque," as well as a certificate confirming his genius.

For 2010, pizza is the most popular dish in the Microsoft office. The company's offices drink 23 million drinks annually. The most popular are milk and orange juice. Pizza is the most in demand from food: it can be tasted in any of the 35 cafes on campus.

2008: 89K employees

The corporation's global workforce at the end of May 2008 was 89,809 employees, up 14.3% from 78,565 on June 30, 2007.

1989: The start of a non-discrimination policy towards gay people

Since 1989, Microsoft has had a non-discrimination policy toward homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, and drag queens. In 1993, in order to support them internally, the GLEAM group was created, which included 12 people. In 1999, GLEAM membership reached 250 workers. In 2003, Microsoft was among the top 3 most gay-friendly companies in the United States. As of 2004, GLEAM already had 700 employees.

See also

• History of Microsoft
• Microsoft Guide
• Microsoft financials
• Acquisitions and sale of Microsoft assets

Notes