Tech Giant Microsoft Shared An Update On Its Work To Promote Racial Equity In The US – Here’s The Breakdown
Microsoft has finally shared an update on promoting racial equity in the US by investing in and working with Black and African American-led financial institutions, suppliers, and partners.
It reports that it has reached its goal of committing $100 million to mission-driven banks, which provide capital to diverse communities.
The giant has also beat its target of doubling the percentage of transactions it conducts with Black and African American-owned financial institutions.
As part of its Black Growth Partner Initiative, Microsoft created $50 million funds to invest in small businesses and startups and a $20 million financing program to support businesses owned by Black and African American partner companies.
The report comes months after it released another break-down in October, where the company stated its progress to increase the diversity of its workforce.
In the third annual Diversity and Inclusion report, Microsoft said that among its core U.S. workforce, Black and African American employees comprise 5.7% of workers, an increase of 0.9 percentage points over last year. The shift was seen across roles, with the most significant leap coming at the executive level, from 3.7% of the workforce up to 5.6%.
Hispanic and Latinx employees also made gains, increasing to 7.0% of the company’s primary U.S. employee base, a rise of 0.5 percentage points.
With those improvements, the company says that it’s nearly 40% of the way toward its goal of doubling the number of Black and African American directors, partners, and executives within five years. Among Hispanic and Latinx employees, it’s 23% of the way there.
These efforts are part of Microsoft’s three-pronged approach to addressing equity announced in June 2020 as Americans were confronting the murder of George Floyd and systemic racial injustice.
“Throughout this initiative, our teams have placed the highest priority on accountability, transparency, and sustainable impact,” said Amy Hood, Microsoft executive vice president, and chief financial officer, in a forward to GeekWire about Tuesday’s report.
