Microsoft will not release a 2025 diversity report
There has been a phase of tech companies releasing diversity reports each year, giving overviews of workforce makeups. Now Microsoft is bucking the trend.
Although the company has not said as much, the move is likely a direct response to pressure from the Trump administration. The US president has scrapped large numbers of diversity, equality and inclusion programs across government, and strongly suggested that private companies follow suit.
Microsoft has taken the decision not to release a diversity report for the year 2025, although the company did not pre-emptively issue an announcement about it. It was journalist Stephen Totilo who spotted that shareholder statements released earlier in the year made no reference to diversity.
Coupled with the fact that diversity reports from Microsoft are generally released at this time of year but none had yet appeared, Totilo was compelled to reach out to the company to find out what was going on.
In a statement provided to Game File, chief communications officer at Microsoft, Frank Shaw, said:
We are not doing a traditional report this year as we’ve evolved beyond that to formats that are more dynamic and accessible—stories, videos, and insights that show inclusion in action. Our mission and commitment to our culture and values remain unchanged: empowering every person and organization to achieve more.
This will make 2025 the first year since 2019 that Microsoft has not provided a diversity report, meaning that it is much harder to have a true picture of the way the company looks.
There are a couple of things that are unclear but may come into focus in the coming weeks and months. We do not know if other major tech firms will follow Microsoft’s lead and also not publish diversity reports. Secondly, while Microsoft says that it has “evolved beyond that to formats that are more dynamic and accessible”, there are no concrete examples of what it means by this. What are these “stories, videos, and insights that show inclusion in action”?
Finally, there is the question of the meaning of Microsoft’s commitment to “empowering every person and organization to achieve more”. Does this mean that there are diversity, equality and inclusion programs in place within the company or not? It is vague enough to be rendered meaningless.
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