Women Leaders Hold 27% Jobs In Microsoft, The Highest It Has Ever Been
“The percentage of women on Microsoft’s Senior Leadership Team worldwide is now at 27.2 percent, the highest it has ever been.” says Ira Gupta, Head HR at Microsoft India.
Microsoft strives to create an environment that helps it capitalize on the diversity of people and the inclusion of ideas and solutions to meet the needs of increasingly global and diverse customer base.
Ira Gupta, Head HR, Microsoft India said, “Microsoft doubled the maternity leave for women employees to six months more than a year before the legislation came into place. We have recently launched a maternity care program to ensure both prenatal and post natal support. Keeping in mind the significance of both mother and father, in nurturing the newly born child, we provide six weeks of paternity leave to our male employees. The same leave entitlements apply to those parents who adopt a child or who choose to have a child via surrogacy.”
Microsoft had also announced enhanced family leave benefits in April 2017 to better meet the needs of its employees to be fully present at home and work. Specifically, a new Family Caregiver leave benefit: four weeks of paid leave has been introduced to take care of an immediate family member with a serious health condition.
Looking beyond the monetary aspects, Microsoft has framed its policies to support non-monetary needs of its employees, with a special focus upon their emotional and physical well-being.
Ira Gupta adds, “We were the first company in India to introduce flexible benefits related to wellness – our insurance policy offers nine different market leading insurance policies – employees can choose the policy that fits them and their life stage.”
The benefits cover OPD, dental and vision expenses as well as executive health checks for every employee and their dependents. Over the last 3 years, a dedicated wellness program – Live Well 365 has been operational which focuses on both physical as well as emotional wellness in a proactive way.
Microsoft has also implemented targeted wellness initiatives for those who want to get more active, lose weight or manage conditions like diabetes and cholesterol. The company also provides financial support to the employees for the purchase of fitness equipment or for enrolling in any fitness programs outside the office like gym memberships under MS Cares, which is our Employee Assistance Program
Microsoft’s work environment is based upon the principles that safeguard its employees from unlikely odds. While hiring the best talent is crucial to a business’ success, it must be followed by providing a conducive environment that enables employees to balance professional ambitions with personal aspirations. Microsoft strives to create an environment that helps capitalize on the diversity of people and the inclusion of ideas and solutions to meet the needs of the increasingly global and diverse customer base.
