The Year Microsoft Finally Reckoned With Its Employees

Workers at Microsoft protested everything from ignored HR disputes to climate change, shifting the company’s culture

Microsoft historically has been better known for Microsoft Word than employee activism. Unlike Google, Kickstarter, and Amazon, employees of the 44-year-old enterprise software company don’t typically rock the boat.

That changed in 2019. Workers at the company organized around a breadth of topics, from internal harassment and discrimination at the company to political spending through the company’s political action committee to the company’s ties to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It all started in April, when dozens of female employees shared stories of sexual harassment and discrimination in a widespread email chain, detailing abhorrent behavior from colleagues and managers.

“We did a roundtables [sic] with the women when I was in Xbox core [team] & every woman, except for 1, had been called a bitch at work,” a Microsoft employee wrote in the email chain. “This is a Microsoft thing, a common one.” It was also alleged that a woman in a senior leadership position was asked to sit on someone’s lap in front of a human resources officer and other executives. No action was…