Microsoft and Google: Microsoft, Google Quiet on UK Female Employee Numbers

Microsoft and Google: Do you see any good reason why a company may want to keep private its number of female employees? While you may not be able to think of a reason to do this, there are some in the tech world that can. This includes both Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

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According to a recent report by Computerworld UK, “Labour MP and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, Chi Onwurah, has been refused information by Microsoft and Google on how many female staff they employee, raising concerns on International Women’s Day that the technology industry is still stifling female career progression.”

As if this is not strange enough, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) were the only companies out of 10 to refuse to provide the data.

Here is what Onwurah had to say:

“Google and Microsoft both cited confidentiality as the reason for refusing to share the data. That suggests that either Google and Microsoft do not know how to aggregate and anonymise such information in which case one might be legitimately concerned about their involvement in Big Data, or alternatively that they have so few women employees it is impossible to anonymise the data.”

It is interesting to hear what she thinks about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) withholding this information.

Other global companies, including Ford, Shell, and BP, provided the information requested. This led to Onwurah adding the following:

“Overall I was reassured that many companies are taking steps to address the gender imbalance. I am worried that Microsoft and Google, role models in their own right, do not appear to want to let anyone know how well, or badly, they are doing.”

That is the big question: are Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) doing so badly that they are trying to hide something? Or are they doing well enough in this area, but not sharing the information for one reason or the next? Share your opinion in the comment section below.

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