Karma Vista?

By Arnie Zemzow

Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella stated Monday that Microsoft values and compensates female and male labor equally, according to Thomson Reuters.

Nadella has since been inundated with criticism. After presenting Microsoft's new cloud technologies, the Microsoft chairman stated that "women best not ask for a raise at work, relying on good karma." 

 

To an aghast audience, he continued: "It's not worth asking for higher wages, but it might be worth to understand and trust in the system that will reward those who do good on their career paths. This, in my opinion, is one of the additional advantages which women possess - those who do not request higher wages. This is all because of the connection with good karma. It will all come back in the future, because someone will understand that they will be trusted by others, leading to greater added responsibility."

The head of Microsoft later apologized for his comments and remarked that he was unclear with his words. Beyond that, he expressed his belief in the remuneration mechanism of Microsoft: "We, as a whole, are in great shape. Men and women receive equal pay at Microsoft." At the same time, Nadella admitted that gender roles is a sphere where Microsoft needs guidance. 

According to popular business and recruiting magazine Glassdoor, men at Microsoft all receive higher wages than women in analogous situations. These stats are based on a narrow scope of data, which are submitted to Glassdoor by Microsoft employees themselves. At Microsoft headquarters, female employees only comprise about a third of the total staff.