Reports of D&I’s death at Microsoft are greatly exaggerated.
That’s the gist of the company’s response to a media snowball effect that misinterpreted the elimination of two diversity and inclusion roles on its events team — yes, two positions — as the axing of its entire diversity and inclusion team.
For the record, Microsoft says, that larger corporate D&I team remains intact. It’s formally known as the Microsoft Global Talent, Development, Diversity and Inclusion (GTDDI) team, led by Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, chief diversity officer.
Business Insider reported in its original story July 15 that Microsoft laid off “a DEI team,” noting that the number of impacted employees wasn’t known at the time.
Subsequent reports, citing the Business Insider story, said Microsoft was “the latest major company to ditch the ‘woke’ policy,” and that the company “laid off the entirety of its diversity, equity and inclusion team.”
In that way, the company was viewed as part of a trend with others such as John Deere and Tractor Supply Co., which have significantly scaled back or eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in recent weeks.
However, Microsoft says the reports mischaracterize what’s it’s doing.
The company provided this statement, reiterating what it said to other publications: “As we move forward, our D&I commitments remain unchanged. Our focus on diversity and inclusion is unwavering and we are holding firm on our expectations, prioritizing accountability, and continuing to focus on this work.”
The two roles that were cut on its events team were duplicated on the main GTDDI team, and did not report into that core D&I group. Microsoft declined to say how many people are on the GTDDI team.
Big picture, Microsoft has continued to make job cuts across the company, most recently in early July, following the end of its fiscal year.
The company is trying to maintain its profit margins amid heavier capital spending, which is designed to provide the cloud infrastructure needed to train and deploy the models that power AI applications.
“The work of D&I has always been complex, yet this year presented unique challenges,” McIntyre wrote in Microsoft’s 2023 Global Diversity & Inclusion Report. “Macro economic headwinds impacted many organizations, and we had to make difficult workforce adjustments inside Microsoft that reduced headcount, particularly in the US.”
Several years ago, Microsoft joined other companies in pledging to make new investments in diversity initiatives following the 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter movement. The initiatives have since come under pressure across the business and political worlds.
Business Insider quoted a memo from a leader of the Microsoft team impacted by the cuts, saying, “True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020.”
A column in Inc. notes that Microsoft isn’t using the word “equity,” consistent with a broader trend to emphasize “inclusion first.” Microsoft has reported its diversity numbers for many years using the phrase “Diversity & Inclusion.”
