MIcrosoft lays off an entire DEI team and sparks its leader fury through an internal email sent to thousands of employees

Microsoft is shutting down an internal team that was focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), justifying it with "changing business needs", as reported recently by Business Insider.

According to an internal email that was written by the leader of the now-defunct team, the team has been shut down since the start of July 2024. The email further claims that the company has not been investing in, and committing to, DEI enough.

This is despite previous commitments to increase diversity back in 2020 where in the occasion Microsoft pledged to hire more Black and African-American leaders within the company by 2025.

"True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020," the team leader wrote.

DEI IS CHANGING INTO I&D

As announced last week, SHRM is changing the DEI strategy. Replacing “DEI” with "I&D" (Inclusion & Diversity). This has left many HR departments unsatisfied.

It’s unclear if this initialism change means that Microsoft is simply repackaging and rebranding their old methods or if they are truly ditching DEI as a concept. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out that these corporate moves are somewhat related in the future.

Does all of that means that Xbox games studios will also be affected? Time will tell.