Women issues at Microsoft reach CEO Satya Nadella

Citing cases and raising concerns of discrimination in career advancements and sexual harassment against women within the company, Microsoft employees had a much-needed meeting with the CEO, Satya Nadella.

Roughly 100 to 150 employees attended the meeting with Nadella in person on Thursday while others watched via live-stream.

In response to the concerns, Nadella was empathetic and expressed his sadness and disappointment, along with his Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan, promised employees additional transparency around advancement within Microsoft, the Wired reported on Friday.

"I will personally look into the situation with my team. I understand the devastating impact of such experiences, and (Nadella) wants to be made aware of any such behaviour, and we will do everything we can to stop it," the report quoted Hogan as saying in an email to the employees after the meeting.

The meeting came as a response to a viral online discussion that started last month on an internal company forum, where an employee asked women for advice on how to move up the ranks in the company, to which hundreds of women responded and shared their own gender bias and harassment stories.

Women shared experiences where they were approached with death threats, sexual advancements and threats against being laid off if they refrained from doing what was asked of them.

As part of their protest, the women are hoping to get more data on bonuses and promotions, the report added.

According to court filings unsealed last year, Microsoft received 108 complaints of sexual harassment and assault from female US-based technical employees, 119 complaints of gender discrimination, eight complaints of retaliation and three complaints of pregnancy discrimination between 2010 and 2016, Forbes reported.

--IANS

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