Microsoft Shows Minimal Increases in Ranks of Black, Latino Employees

Microsoft Corp., which in June announced a plan to double the number of Black managers and leaders at the company, released new annual diversity data today that show the company still struggling to meaningfully increase Black and Latino representation in its workforce.

The software maker said it increased the proportion of both groups by 0.3 percentage points in the past year, with Black workers rising to 4.9% of its U.S. workforce and Latino employees increasing to 6.6%. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates each group accounts for more than 13% of the country’s population. “Racial and ethnic minority communities have largely seen incremental progress and there is still much work to be done,” wrote Chief Diversity Officer Lindsay-Rae McIntyre in a blog post. The percentage of women in the company’s global workforce rose slightly to 28.6%.