Microsoft cuts a DEI team, team lead rages DEI is not 'business critical' to company

Microsoft employees have been complaining internally after the tech company cut a DEI team. In response, a team leader wrote an email saying he was disappointed that the company no longer saw DEI as "business critical."

"True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020," a leader in the DEI team wrote to thousands of employees in an email viewed by Business Insider. The team lead who complained about the decision did not comment on the report from BI. The email said that the team had been cut because of "changing business needs" as of July 1.

However, it is not yet clear how many roles in total were cut from the company. The decision to cut the DEI team comes four years after the tech company, along with many others, decided to make DEI goals and commitments. At the time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pledged “action to help address racial injustice and inequity” in the company.

Some of these included starting a required "training on allyship, covering, and privilege in the workplace" for all employees. Other commitments were for Microsoft to "strengthen [their] intentional career planning and talent development efforts."

"We will build on our diversity and inclusion (D&I) momentum from the past five years by adding an additional $150M of D&I investment, and will double the number of Black and African American people managers, senior individual contributors, and senior leaders in the United States by 2025," the company said at the time.

However, with the cutting of the DEI team at Microsoft, that may be changing. DEI measures have come under increased scrutiny, with many reports showing that DEI can promote discrimination against white males.

Microsoft spokesman Jeff Jones told ITPro in a statement, “Our D&I commitments remain unchanged. Our focus on diversity and inclusion is unwavering and we are holding firm on our expectations, prioritizing accountability, and continuing to focus on this work."