(Headline USA) Microsoft quietly laid off its entire diversity, equity, and inclusion team earlier this month due to “changing business needs,” according to a leaked email.
A former DEI official with the company said in an email to other Microsoft employees that Microsoft had decided to cut its DEI team effective July 1. The exact number of impacted employees was unknown.
“True systems-change work associated with DEI programmes everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020,” the DEI official said of Microsoft’s reasoning, according to Business Insider.
The ousted employee went on to warn that DEI initiatives likely were also at risk in other major companies.
“Hence the purposeful and strategic 3-5 year shelf life of many company’s inclusion commitments post the murder of George Floyd are being reevaluated,” the email said. “And the way I see it, the timing was impeccable so businesses everywhere could reevaluate the path forward should their U.S. federal contracts be at risk if the work continues on its face.”
Microsoft spokesman Jeff Jones refused either to confirm or deny the report, but he claimed the company remained committed to “diversity and inclusion” in other respects while notably making no mention of “equity.”
“[Diversity and inclusion] commitments remain unchanged,” Jones said. “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.”
Just a few months ago, Microsoft was celebrating its DEI initiatives. In February, the company released a report boasting that its black, Asian and Hispanic employees earned more than their white counterparts.
Microsoft also came under fire from the Labor Department in 2020 after the company announced it would double its number of minority managers and senior employees by 2025.
The employment action violated the Civil Rights Act, according to former President Donald Trump’s Labor Department, and resulted in Microsoft having to pay a $3 million settlement.
