Michael UngarCEO of the Industry 4.0 Club

Boosting Diversity & Inclusion at Microsoft: Your Role Matters

13 May 2026 · 1 min

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1:08

In this segment, the speaker explains Microsoft’s voluntary employee self‑identification program, which lets staff share information about both visible and non‑visible identity dimensions. Using a recent incident involving an employee named Jason as a cautionary example, the speaker stresses that broader self‑identification—whether during hiring or later—provides a more accurate picture of the workforce and the communities represented. With sufficient participation, Microsoft can make data‑informed decisions about benefits, community resources, and support structures for diverse employee groups. While participation is optional, employees are encouraged to self‑identify to prevent experiences like Jason’s from recurring.

Chapters

voluntary process where an individual has the opportunity to share information about themselves across a range of both visible and non-visible dimensions. It's really important to us for exactly the reason that Jason— for what Jason just unfortunately experienced. It's a crucial contribution to advancing both the diversity and inclusion at Microsoft that I mentioned before, But as more employees self-identify or identify during the interview process or before it, we can achieve a truer understanding of our employees and the communities represented within Microsoft. If enough people do it, you can make data-informed decisions about the benefits, the community resources, the support you're going to be providing for the communities across the company. It's voluntary, but we encourage people to do it so that You know, we don't slip into the kind of experience that Jason had with a number of his jobs.