Microsoft hired more women post-LinkedIn acquisition

Women now represent 27.3 per cent of Microsoft's and LinkedIn's combined global workforce, the tech giant has revealed, adding that the addition of LinkedIn's workforce has served to increase female representation overall.

Outside of the LinkedIn acquisition, the percentage of women employed at Microsoft globally is 25.9 per cent -- a slight increase from 25.8 per cent last year, Kathleen Hogan, Chief People Officer at Microsoft, said in a blog post late Tuesday.

"Excluding the phone manufacturing business wind-down where female representation was higher than our average, female representation in our global workforce increased by 0.9 per cent, reflecting much of the emphasis and work we've placed on diversity and inclusion," Hogan added.

Microsoft acquired professional social network LinkedIn 11 month back for $26 billion.

"In the US, our combined representation of African-American/black employees is 3.9 per cent. Representation of Hispanic/Latin employees is 5.6 per cent. These compare to last year's numbers for Microsoft alone of 3.7 percent and 5.5 percent respectively," Hogan wrote.

The percentage of women in technical roles increased from 17.5 to 19.0 per cent while the percentage of women in leadership positions increased from 17.9 to 19.1 per cent.

"Our board of directors continues to be among the most diverse of any company in technology today, with women and ethnic minorities nominated on this year's proxy representing six of our 14 positions," Hogan posted.

Microsoft has offered more than 40,000 girls the opportunity to participate in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

"Our journey to build a more diverse and inclusive culture continues, and when it comes to our diverse representation, we know that we still have a long way to go. We are committed to improving and learning," Hogan added.

In August, Facebook reported that the number of women in its workforce rose to 35 per cent this year from 33 per cent previously.

Women now make up to 31 per cent of Google's global workforce.

--IANS

na/ksk