Microsoft moves to strengthen its sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies amid criticism and pressure

In January 2022, Microsoft appointed ArentFox Schiff to review the US tech giant’s workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies. On 11 November the US law and advisory firm submitted a report of its finding to the group's board of directors. In it are recommendations to improve transparency vis-à-vis procedures and to reinforce both training and female representation at senior management/executive level.
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The genesis for this report occurred in 2019 during e-mail exchanges between some female employees who decided to call on Microsoft to implement a gender equality policy, as they highlighted issues surrounding pay, training, unwelcome behaviours, career progression, maternity leave, and so on. In response, the company put an action plan in place including a code of conduct for managers and investment in an investigation team to follow up on employees’ complaints. In its report the advisory firm

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