Women should not ask for raises and instead 'trust the system' and 'karma' according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has come under fire for suggesting that women should refrain from requesting raises, instead trusting in the 'system' and 'karma' to do right by them, according to Reuters.
Satya Nadella believes his statement was inarticulate
Nadella made the controversial statement in response to a question asking how women can advance in the tech industry at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Arizona.
The Microsoft CEO said: “It's not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along.
“Because that's good karma, it'll come back because somebody's going to know that's the kind of person that I want to trust.”
The sentiment that women should not take action was unpopular at the event resulting many take to social media causing Nadella to backtrack on his first statement. He tweeted:
Was inarticulate re how women should ask for raise. Our industry must close gender pay gap so a raise is not needed because of a bias #GHC14
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) October 9, 2014
In response to the comment, many said that they thought his core argument was flawed, regardless of how badly he believed he put it across.
.@satyanadella If women are hired at fair salary, raises aren't needed to close the gap. We need to encourage women to ask for more. — Karen Lopez (@datachick) October 9, 2014.@satyanadella so you're just saying "trust the system that created the structural inequity" in a slightly different way? — Mark McBride (@mccv) October 9, 2014@satyanadella Yikes. It sounded pretty articulate and purposeful to about a million other people. http://t.co/C52vu621Lm #fired — Sunny Bjerk (@sunnybjerk) October 9, 2014
@satyanadella @selenalarson raises are always needed to account for cost of living and experience. you didn't get where you are by karma.
— deathandfood (@deathandfood) October 9, 2014
To further address the comment, Nadella released a statement on the Microsoft website: "I answered that question completely wrong. I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work.
"And when it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it’s deserved, Maria’s advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask."
This comes after Facebook, Pinterest and Box launched the Women Entering and Staying in Tech (WEST) programme to help women advance in the tech industry.
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