Microsoft Says U.S. Government Questions Its Pledge to Hire More Black Employees -- Update
October 06 2020 - 06:32PM
Dow Jones News
By Khadeeja Safdar
Microsoft Corp. said it was contacted last week by the federal
government to see whether its pledge to hire more Black employees
constitutes unlawful discrimination by a government contractor.
The software company said the agency overseeing federal
contractors is questioning whether its initiative to double the
number of Black managers and leaders in its U.S. workforce by 2025
violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
"We have every confidence that Microsoft's diversity initiative
complies fully with all U.S. employment laws," Microsoft general
counsel Dev Stahlkopf said in a blog post.
Black employees represent about 4.5% of Microsoft's U.S.
workforce and less than 3% of senior roles, according to the
company's 2019 diversity report. That compares with about 13% of
the U.S. population.
Microsoft made the pledge to improve its diversity ranks in
June, as well as a commitment to invest an additional $150 million
over five years in diversity and inclusion programs. After the
killing of George Floyd in May, it was one of several companies,
from Germany's Adidas AG to Silicon Valley's Facebook Inc., to make
pledges to hire more Black employees.
In its letter to Microsoft, the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs suggested this initiative "appears to imply
that employment action may be taken on the basis of race." The
letter asked Microsoft to prove the actions it is taking aren't
illegal race-based decisions, according to the software maker.
The OFCCP is an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor that
oversees companies like Microsoft that are federal contractors. A
spokesman for the Labor Department didn't immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Last month, the Trump administration issued an executive order
that prohibits companies with federal contracts from participating
in training that "promotes race or sex-stereotyping or
scapegoating." The OFCCP has created a hotline for workers to
report their companies for potentially violating the order.
In June, Microsoft also said it would step up efforts to fight
racial disparities outside the company, including setting up a $50
million investment fund focused on supporting Black-owned small
businesses. The company pledged to use data and technology to
identify racial disparities in the criminal-justice system and
improve policing.
"We believe it is a core part of our mission to make our
company, our community and our country a place where people of
diverse views and backgrounds are welcomed and can thrive,"
Microsoft said in its blog post.
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 06, 2020 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)
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