New Microsoft Diversity Figures Reveal Gender Gap, Minority Employment Increase

REDMOND, WA - According to new diversity statistics, Microsoft has overall become more male-dominated since 2015, but in that same period has hired more minorities.

In 2016, Microsoft is 73.7 percent male (83,703 employees), 25.8 percent female (29,302 employees), and 58 percent white (37,298 employees). In 2015, the company was 26.8 percent female, 73.1 percent male, and 59.2 percent white.

But compared to 2015, Microsoft has more black, Latino, multi-racial and Asian workers overall. Employment of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders decreased.

Comparing 2015 and 2016, the number of black employees increased from 2,112 to 2,378; the number of Latino employees went from 3,239 to 3,536; multi-racial employees increased from 799 to 949; and Asian employment increased from 17,730 to 19,591.

Drilling down into the company, female employment has increased in tech roles from 16.9 percent in 2015 to 17.5 percent this year. Women hold about 17 percent of leadership roles at Microsoft.

At Microsoft direct-production factories, women dominate - they make up 56 percent of workforce, down from 57 percent in 2015.

The lack of gender diversity in the tech world has been an issue, with some estimates showing that women only account for 30 percent of the tech workforce.

View the full Microsoft workplace diversity statistics here.