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☆ Microsoft's most significant departures and hires of 2022, including execs who resigned following Insider reports on misconduct allegations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The list includes executives who resigned following Insider reports on misconduct allegations. The company's most significant departures include executives who resigned following Insider reports on misconduct allegations. Current and former Microsoft employees said Kipman repeatedly got away with inappropriate behavior toward female employees, including unwanted touching. Kipman resigned less than two weeks after Insider published the story. Kipman, Keane, and Ma have not responded to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ After a record-breaking 2021, European investors and founders are ready to take it slow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Our Big Tech team was constantly chasing the biggest stories, from alleged executive misconduct at Microsoft to injuries in Amazon warehouses. After a record-breaking 2021, European startups raised $16 billion in the third quarter — a 44% annual drop. The solo founder joined YC in January 2022, and has since raised millions from investors like Alexis Ohanian. The risk of debilitating muscle and joint injuries at Amazon warehouses is off the charts, workplace regulators have said. Amazon workers shared why they planned to vote against unionizing.

☆ Bill Gates says his divorce from ex-wife Melinda French Gates was one of his 'personal low points' over the past few years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said his divorce from Melinda French Gates was one of his "personal low points" over the past few years. Gates' father, Bill Gates Sr., died in September 2020. Gates and French Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. They continue to work together on philanthropic efforts through The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. French Gates mentioned an affair Gates had in 2000 with a Microsoft employee.

☆ A brutally honest internal study about Amazon's 'Earth's Best Employer' project slammed the company for creating 'stress, burnout, churn, and a cut-throat atmosphere'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon has made becoming "Earth's best employer" one of the company's top priorities. The study identified six focus areas for Amazon to work on to become Earth's best employer. To fix those issues, the company identified six improvement areas, according to a copy of the "Earth's Best Employer Discussion" study seen by Insider. And 7.5% of Amazon tech employees said ideas related to social impact were the one thing Amazon could do better to be EBE. "We want to lead with an innovative and inspiring approach to being Earth's Best Employer," the document said.

☆ 'They are untouchable': Microsoft employees say 'golden boy' executives are still running wild, 8 years after the company vowed to clean up its toxic culture
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

The Microsoft executive walked into the small, windowless room in Studio C at about 8 o'clock that evening. Despite Nadella's public stance against those he has called "talented jerks," many inside the company say Microsoft retains a nearly unlimited tolerance for bad behavior by its top rainmakers and developers. "The Microsoft of 2021 is very different from the Microsoft of 2000 to me and to everyone at Microsoft," Nadella said. But some women say the investigations drag on for months or even years, with no clear timeline for resolution. What's more, some employees say Microsoft's efforts to promote racial equity often smack of tokenism.

☆ 5 former Amazon managers tell us what they loved about the company — and what they were glad to leave behind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | Katie Malone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Many other leaders do the same, the former Amazon leader said. the current Microsoft employee said. For instance, Microsoft gets the whole company together to do activities and donate to causes they like, which Amazon doesn't do, the current Microsoft employee said. Malte Mueller/Getty ImagesDrive for excellence, with burnoutBeyond teaching its own leadership tenets, Amazon isn't big on manager training, one of the current Google employees said. Without proper institutional support, constantly operating at such a high level can lead Amazon employees to burnout, a former Amazon leader who now works at Google said.

☆ A review of Microsoft's sexual harassment policies found it could have acted earlier to address executive misconduct alleged in Insider report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft released results of what it said was an independent review of its sexual harassment policies. The review cites Insider's report about allegations of misconduct from "golden boy" executives whose value gave them impunity. Current and former Microsoft employees alleged Kipman repeatedly got away with inappropriate behavior toward women employees, including unwanted touching. Microsoft, according to ArentFox's report, provided the firm with records related to allegations of misconduct by Kipman and Keane from 2021 and earlier. The firm did not investigate the allegations, but reviewed the results of Microsoft's own investigations into the allegations and found the company could have addressed inappropriate conduct earlier.

☆ Microsoft will update harassment policy after report shows pitfalls in handling of complaints
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft on Tuesday said it would update sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies after a third-party report showed shortcomings in how the company deals with complaints. The report comes a year after Microsoft shareholders approved a proposal requesting that the board publish a review of workplace sexual harassment policies. Microsoft published a 50-page transparency report from ArentFox on Tuesday. "On July 7, 2019, Person A, a Microsoft employee, reported to Kathleen Hogan that Bill Gates had subjected her to inappropriate communications and conduct," the transparency report said. "In doing so, Person A made references to sexual harassment and the me too movement."

☆ Microsoft's president warns of talent shortage for tackling climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Thousands of businesses will fail to meet pledges to combat climate change unless they start training employees on sustainability, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) President Brad Smith told Reuters. Microsoft sells software for organizations to track their environmental impact. Still, companies need more than technology to address global warming, said Smith, announcing plans to develop green education materials including on LinkedIn, which Microsoft owns. The findings primarily stemmed from interviews and surveys with Microsoft and eight other large companies in sectors such as finance and consumer goods. "Employers really need to step back and take a broader look at their investment in employee learning and training."

☆ These 15 people are shaping the office of the future, designing meeting pods, hologram calls, and buildings that actually make workers healthier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

These 15 power players are just a handful of the people designing workplaces to balance productivity, interaction, and employee well-being through indoor-air-quality monitoring systems, building amenities, holographic meeting spaces, and more. AftershipCities like Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Raleigh, North Carolina, began offering business-relocation incentives during the pandemic to boost their workforces and help increase occupancy in office buildings. Room's office suite includes a phone booth, a meeting room, an open meeting room, and a focus room. Room also makes a soundproof meeting room that fits two people, a more open meeting booth, and a focus room designed for quiet concentration. "The future of office work needs to be guided by a new, genuine form of flexibility in which the work, not the workers themselves, become even more malleable," Petersen writes.

☆ How Amazon's warehouse empire reshaped the nation — and the US workforce
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today, we're exploring the new Insider project Warehouse Nation, and specifically, Amazon's role. The tech giant has made efficiency the cornerstone of its business, and this series examines how that's reshaped the nation and its workforce. Plus, this week has shown us that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have pretty much opposite views on the state of the economy (no surprise there). Elon Musk told investors that he planned to get rid of nearly 75% of Twitter's 7,500 workers, according to The Washington Post. Jeff Bezos thinks it's time to "batten down the hatches," while Elon Musk says Tesla is "pedal to the metal" on production.

☆ Leaked Microsoft organizational chart shows the 19 people running its all-important cloud business
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An internal org chart shows the 19 people running Microsoft's Cloud + AI org under CEO Satya Nadella. An internal Microsoft organizational chart viewed by Insider shows the people in charge of the company's cloud and artificial intelligence business — a business so tremendous, it employs at least one-third of Microsoft's massive workforce. The Cloud + AI org is responsible for Microsoft's Azure cloud business, plus its data platform, developer services, and software like its Dynamics 365 customer relationship management tool. The org is run by Scott Guthrie, one of CEO Satya Nadella's top lieutenants and the exec who has led Microsoft's cloud business since at least 2011. Nat Friedman, the former CEO of Microsoft subsidiary GitHub who stepped down in November 2021, also remained on the org chart viewed by Insider.

☆ Workers at these 15 companies are happiest with their pay, says a new report—here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

California-based tech giants dominate the list of companies where workers feel most satisfied with their pay, according to Comparably's sixth annual report based on employee reviews. 1, Adobe employees report being happy with their compensation across pay, benefits, bonus structures, equity and more. 4 Microsoft said that beginning July 1, it would nearly double its budget for employee salary increases and boost stock compensation to help workers cope with inflation. Top companies have also been able to persevere through a volatile stock market. "The biggest trend we see is that as the overall stock market has been affected, so too does people's perspective of their compensation," Nazar says.

☆ 'The devices would have gotten us killed.' Microsoft's military smart goggles failed four of six elements during a recent test, internal Army report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft won a contract worth as much as $22 billion to build smart goggles for the US military. The device received a poor reception from soldiers in a recent test, according to an Army report. Microsoft's smart goggles for the US military failed most elements of a recent Army test and one tester remarked the device would be dangerous for soldiers to wear, according to excerpts from an Army report dictated to Insider. The device failed in four out of six evaluation events in a recent "operational demo," according to a Microsoft employee briefed about the event. The Army contract was considered a major milestone for Microsoft in particular and the augmented reality field in general.

☆ Microsoft salaries revealed: See how much engineers, analysts, and thousands of other employees at the tech giant make
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sources told Insider the move was meant to stop workers from leaving to competitors like Amazon. Insider analyzed thousands of H-1B visa applications to see how much Microsoft pays employees. Microsoft employees earlier this year promised widespread raises to stop workers from leaving to competitors like Amazon and Meta. The data doesn't include stock grants that can significantly increase total compensation, but it is a valuable guide to Microsoft salaries for a variety of positions. Here's a breakdown of what Microsoft pays many other employees, though these salaries were disclosed before the promised raises.

☆ Leaked Microsoft presentation sheds light on Azure cloud revenue, showing billions of dollars spent by US customers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft doesn't disclose revenue for its Azure cloud. Instead, it reports overall cloud revenue. An internal presentation sheds some light on Azure's revenue, a closely guarded Microsoft secret. Microsoft is famously tight-lipped about how much revenue its Azure cloud generates — so much so that even former CEO Steve Ballmer once called for more transparency. Microsoft reported $91.2 billion in "cloud" revenue for its 2022 fiscal year that concluded in June but didn't specify how much Azure contributed to that figure.

☆ The era of Big Tech moonshots is over. Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are pulling back on ambitious, risky long-term projects after many of them failed.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | Eugene Kim | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have scaled back their ambitious "moonshot" projects. Moonshots like Google X and Amazon Grand Challenge allowed tech firms to build innovative projects. Before Amazon, Parviz led a similar team at Google called Google X. Page and Brin championed X projects they loved, helping them gain funding and headcount within the unit. Parviz, who created the once-hyped-up Google Glass, left Google X in 2014 to start Amazon's Grand Challenge.

☆ Leaked Microsoft org chart shows the 12 people running its big future bets, from quantum computing to government cloud services
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft last year created an division for the company's big bets, from quantum to government IT. An internal org chart viewed by Insider shows the 12 people in charge of these emerging businesses. The org chart was part of a presentation about the team's first growth strategy. An internal Microsoft org chart shows the 12 people in charge of Microsoft's emerging technologies and businesses. Also included in the org chart are legal, finance, marketing, and human resources executives an internal presentation lists as SMT "business partners."

☆ Leaked Microsoft documents show where and how the tech titan's new moonshot team is placing its bets, from quantum computing to government cloud services
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The team formed to manage Microsoft's biggest moonshots just released its first growth strategy, according to internal documents viewed by Insider. Microsoft expects the total addressable market through the company's 2025 fiscal year for Microsoft Federal to reach $105 billion, and $149 billion for the Microsoft Communications unit. Azure Quantum, led by CVP Zulfi Alam: "Azure Quantum team is engineering the quantum machine to solve for a better future." Azure for Operators, led by CVP Martin Lund "is accelerating the Cloud transformation of mission critical communication networks for Core and Edge services." Mission Engineering, led by Zach Kramer: "Mission engineering is delivering the innovation and technology that creates the ecosystem that transform mission."

☆ What to know about the latest Windows 11 update
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Nearly one year after Microsoft launched its flagship Windows 11, the tech giant has officially rolled out its first major update to the operating system. The update, which is available for free for current Windows 11 users, was released in more than 190 countries on Tuesday. “Our work is never done to ensure Windows evolves and adapts to you.”Panay, who said Windows 11 is the most used version of Windows in its history, detailed how the latest update aims to make remote work on the PC even easier and more secure. Microsoft calls Windows 11 the most secure version of the operating system yet. Users with eligible devices can simply get the update by opening “Windows Update” in their settings.

☆ Microsoft's MIT blackjack whiz who was accused of treating women unfairly is leaving, according to a leaked internal memo
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-29 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft for Startups boss Jeff Ma, an MIT-trained blackjack whiz accused of treating women unfairly at work, is leaving the company, according to an internal email viewed by Insider. Charlotte Yarkoni, Microsoft's cloud and artificial-intelligence chief operating officer, announced the change internally on Friday, saying Ma is "leaving Microsoft to pursue his next adventure." "Jeff's expertise and impact on Microsoft for Startups has been notable," Yarkoni wrote in the email. While there's no indication Ma's departure is related to the allegations, Ma is the latest executive accused of mistreating employees to leave Microsoft in recent months. Current and former Microsoft employees alleged Kipman repeatedly got away with inappropriate behavior toward women employees, including unwanted touching.

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