Microsoft CEO walks back comment suggesting women shouldn't ask for raises
Satya Nadella under fire for saying females should trust the system and 'karma'
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has apologised and said he was wrong for saying that women don't need to ask for a raise and should just trust the system and "karma" to pay them well.
He had been asked to give his advice to women who are uncomfortable requesting a raise. His response: "It's not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along." Not asking for raise, he added, is "good karma" that would help a boss realise that the employee could be trusted and should have more responsibility.
But his comments caused an uproar, and Microsoft posted a memo from him on its website.
In it, Nadella said he answered the question "completely wrong" and that he thinks "men and women should get equal pay for equal work. And when it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it's deserved, Maria's advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask".
His interviewer at the event, Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and a Microsoft director, had told him she disagreed, which drew cheers from the audience. She said his viewpoint was "one of the very few things that I disagree with you on", and suggested women do their homework on salary information and first practice asking with people they trust.
Nadella's comments at the event, the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, underscored why many see techn companies as workplaces that are difficult to navigate or even unfriendly for women and minorities. Tech companies, particularly in engineering, are overwhelmingly male, white or Asian.
Criticised for their lack of diversity, major companies say they are trying to address the problem with programs such as employee training sessions and by participating in initiatives to introduce girls to coding.
Twenty-nine per cent of Microsoft's employees are women, according to figures the company released earlier this month. Its technical and engineering staff and its management are just 17 per cent female.
That's roughly comparable to diversity data released by other big tech companies this year.
"Without a doubt I wholeheartedly support programs at Microsoft and in the industry that bring more women into technology and close the pay gap," Nadella wrote in his memo to employees.