Leaked internal messages show Microsoft employees calling for leadership to take a firmer stand on the George Floyd protests (MSFT)

Microsoft employees are using an internal company message board to share their personal experiences with the ongoing protests against police brutality and systemic racism, and calling for leadership to take action.
"Deployment of chemical weapons in residential neighborhoods should be of grave concern for MSFT leadership and beyond," one employee said.
The messages only add to pressure from employees for Microsoft to take a bolder stand on the matter — the discussion came the day after more than 250 Microsoft employees signed on to an email asking executives including Nadella to support the protests against systemic racism.
Last week, Nadella told employees: "As a company, we need to look inside, examine our organization, and do better. I have heard from many employees over the past several days, expressing calls for action, calls for reflection, calls for change. My response is this: Yes. We have to act."
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In internal messages reviewed by Business Insider, employees spoke about their personal experiences around the ongoing protests against systemic racism across America, and called on Microsoft leadership to take action.

"The Seattle PD have teargassed me twice in my home, and pepper sprayed me 3 times when I went outside. Considering I'm recovering from the plague, that's a lot," one employee wrote on a Microsoft internal Yammer social media group, according to messages shared with Business Insider. "Deployment of chemical weapons in residential neighborhoods should be of grave concern for MSFT leadership and beyond," another said.

One employee appeared to call on Microsoft leadership to put into practice what is often hailed as a major culture shift within the company, spearheaded by CEO Satya Nadella. "I've been thinking a lot about how Microsoft has made organizational change from a more aggressive culture to one that focuses on human centered design and empathy," the employee said.

The messages only add to pressure from employees for Microsoft to take a bolder stand on the protests, which have been ongoing for nearly two weeks since the death of George Floyd was captured on camera.

Employees ask for action

Police in Seattle, about 15 miles from Microsoft's headquarters and where many of its employees live, have been widely criticized, including by local politicians, for the use of chemical agents to disperse protesters who were demonstrating against police brutality.

The protests prompted more than 250 Microsoft employees to sign on an email that started circulating Monday morning asking executives including Nadella to support protests against systemic racism with actions such as ending the company's contracts with police departments, and making internal reforms to support employees. The initial email began with a small group of 20 employees, but ballooned out to more than 250 as word got around, OneZero reported earlier on Tuesday.

However, the whole company got involved when the email was shared on the company's internal Yammer social network — specifically, in a group called "CEO Connection," which Microsoft describes as meant "to allow employees to ask Satya and his leadership team questions and discuss topics that are relevant to the entire company" — it became a companywide discussion, according to the messages viewed by Business Insider.

"The amount of distrust between police and civilians is appalling, and the lack of significant action on the officers' side to appeal to the crowd is disappointing," one employee said. "For several nights, I've watched police use their tactics to hurt people more than help," another employee said.

'As a company, we need to look inside'

Nadella has yet to respond directly to the email or the subsequent discussions. Microsoft responded to Business Insider's request for comment by sharing a statement Nadella made in an internal memo last week, before the email from employees was sent.

"As a company, we need to look inside, examine our organization, and do better. I have heard from many employees over the past several days, expressing calls for action, calls for reflection, calls for change. My response is this: Yes. We have to act," he said, but did not commit to specific actions.

Microsoft has long partnered with law enforcement agencies, including the New York Police Department. It provides a surveillance product called Domain Awareness System, which gathers data from detection devices including cameras and license plate readers to, as Microsoft has said, provide "NYPD investigators and analysts with a comprehensive view of potential threats and criminal activity."

Microsoft has been criticized before for its work with law enforcement agencies. In March, immigrant rights groups and some Microsoft workers asked tech companies including their own employer to stop sharing their technologies with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the agency conducted raids during the coronavirus crisis. Nadella previously downplayed the company's work with ICE.

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