Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella needs to address sexism issues at Microsoft. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty.An email chain started from one women asking other women at Microsoft how to get ahead in her career. She had been working the same job for years, with her manager, his manager, and other employees agreeing she deserved a promotion. However, she stated that “the boys club” had won, and she was passed over time and time again so others could get promotions. Then other women chimed in. They all had similar stories, and some far worse. Women spoke of sexual harassment, reports to HR that got them in trouble, managers who claimed they wanted the harassment they were complaining about, and much more. Every woman had a story. Nearly every woman said they were called a “bitch” at some point.
Let’s not forget that, just three years ago, Microsoft hosted a party for the Xbox that included hiring strippers.
Microsoft has a sexism problem the size of Uber’s, perhaps worse, and for years, not only have they known about it, they haven’t addressed the concerns of women. Now a leaked email chain has brought those women together and thrust Microsoft’s dirty misogynistic laundry into the public light. Finally, Microsoft’s trying to do something about it. Or, at least, they’re claiming they’ll do something about it.
But will it be enough to fight the systematic oppression of women ingrained into Microsoft’s culture?
In This Article:
The Harassment Women Face
Women at Microsoft revealed a myriad of complaints. However, the worst, and perhaps most infuriating part of it all, is that Microsoft’s human resources department was aware of the harassment. It started with a woman complaining about the boys club atmosphere that made moving up in your career as a woman all but impossible at Microsoft, even with your manager’s and peer’s approval. But then it got worse.
One woman reported that, in a meeting with HR present, a man asked her to sit on his lap not once, but twice. She complained about it there and HR did nothing. An employee from a partner company of Microsoft told a woman that he’d kill her during their work trip together if she didn’t engage in sexual acts. She got away and complained and both HR and management ignored her claims. She asked to be reassigned so she wouldn’t have to face her harasser and attempted rapist. Her manager responded by telling her she was unable to fulfill her role, and, if she couldn’t find another one at Microsoft, she’d be laid off. She moved to a different manager, but that poor excuse of a man is still there as well.
To be clear, a woman reported that she was sexually assaulted while doing her duties at Microsoft, and her manager implied she was flirting and threatened to fire her unless she went back to working with her harasser.
Every woman but one on the Xbox team reported being called a bitch at some point. Women are told they’re “diversity hires,” with male employees implying they did not get their jobs based on skills.
This is a culture that is vile, harassing, sexist, and outright dangerous. A woman was assaulted in an attempted rape and Microsoft’s response was to threaten to fire her.
The Damage to Careers
Let’s put aside the lasting trauma of sexual assault. Let’s just forget about PTSD. For just a moment, let’s think about the women who were not blatantly assaulted. Those who had smaller crimes committed against them.
When women are undervalued, they work for no reward, eventually leaving their company to move up in ranks. This is why so many tech companies have no female tech leadership. They simply do not value the technical contributions of women as much as those of men.
Studies have shown that men are more likely to punish women for mistakes than other men. Any women in tech can attest to it. Miss one deadline, carry one story over to the next sprint, and no one forgets it. Meanwhile, your team may have never completed a sprint in its entirety. That low level sexism is what keeps a woman from moving up in her career in tech.
Sexism + Ageism == Pain
There’s a terrible secret in tech: there are few older individual contributors. Sure, some retire, but many shift into management. This is because, as you get older, and your free time becomes more limited, it can be hard to continue learning and dedicating your life to programming, as software engineers must do. When I’m not coding for work or writing, I’m studying. That’s the life of an engineer.
But as you get older, you face bias that keeps you from moving up through the ranks. You have a harder time getting a job. Ageism is a serious form of discrimination in tech. Combine it with sexism, and women who just want to code until they retire have no hope if they ever lose one job or want to move to a different company. The tech landscape for women, in the long term, is utterly bleak and terrifying.
Sexism isn’t Profitable
You know what? We shouldn’t even have to talk about this. We should just be able to say “sexism is wrong,” and leave it at that. Instead, we have to break this down for the misogynists in the back.
Sexism is not profitable.
Every study shows that, when a company has more women, it performs better. When it has more racial diversity, it performs better. New ideas from people from all walks of life help stamp out bugs, foster innovation, and keep costs down.
Diversity is very profitable.
Just look at companies that have pushed out products, like Amazon’s facial recognition software, Rekognition. It has trouble identifying people of color and women. Why? Because Amazon doesn’t hire enough women and minorities. As a result, their product is worse than their competitors. They may have to completely retrain their models, improve their algorithms, and work harder to catch up to places that don’t suffer from the unintentional sexism and racism within their algorithms.
We shouldn’t have to say this, but diversity is profitable, and sexism hurts a company’s bottom line. If companies aren’t willing to fight sexism because it’s right, they should at least fight sexism because it’s profitable.
A Necessary Culling
Microsoft needs to fire every single person these women spoke to, male or female. The head of HR who ignored these complaints, though a woman herself, needs to be shown the door. The managers who ignored the complaints of their female employees should find employment elsewhere. Harassers put on the unemployment line. Managers who promoted buddies over qualified women given pink slips. If Satya Nadella doesn’t do enough to improve Microsoft, fire the CEO. No one can be safe.
That’s the only way to improve the culture of a workplace. Cut out the cancer. You don’t cut out a few cancer cells and expect the healthy cells to fight the metastasizing cancer. You remove the entire malignant lump. Microsoft has a growing tumor, and if they don’t act now, it could destroy their brand.
Consider Uber. Uber has only seen business improvement after doing the same, and they still haven’t done enough. There are many former Uber users, myself included, who would never go back. Many women refuse to trust the brand that doesn’t believe or support women.
Now Microsoft has the same issue. Who wants to buy a seXistBox from Misogynysoft? Not I. What female engineer wants to join this environment? Certainly not this one.
Microsoft has one option: cut out the cancer.
Again and again, companies realize this only after their brand is in tatters.
If Microsoft is unwilling to cut out their misogynistic tumors, the entire company will become nothing more than a tumor. Businesses will refuse to put their female employees in harms way of the sexist behemoth that is Microsoft, and women won’t want to work there. No one will want to look like a bigot by buying Microsoft anything.
Microsoft needs to take extremely drastic actions. If CEO Satya Nadella isn’t willing to do that, the board needs to demand his resignation. Clean house, Microsoft, or you won’t have a house to clean.