New internal Microsoft memo shows shifting employee sentiment

According to a recent internal memo, Microsoft employees are feeling positive about producing meaningful work, but less so about coaching, feedback and motivation from managers, Business Insider reports. In Microsoft’s biannual “Employee Signals” survey, Microsoft Chief People Officer Amy Coleman shared the “top strengths” of the company, naming a “focus on addressing security challenges” and “feeling included in teams.” Coleman also named the “top opportunities” that arose in the survey. “Comments surfaced challenges around strategy, communication, processes, customer focus, and speed of execution,” Coleman wrote. In the survey, employees responded most favorably to questions about feeling included and acting in ways that reflect Microsoft’s culture. Those numbers dipped in relation to questions about having opportunities to broaden their experience and be productive, as well as seeing a “a clear link between my work and my org’s objective.” Employees rated their managers most highly for embracing new challenges to drive innovation, fostering an inclusive environment and inviting diverse perspectives. The lowest-rated areas centered on direct people management, like coaching through day-to-day challenges, delivering clear feedback and motivating the team—with all three points showing decline since the last survey. Earlier this year, Microsoft offered voluntary retirement to 7 of its workforce of more than 220,000 globally. The company also overhauled its HR team responsible for compensation and promotion policies. On the last day of its fiscal year, Microsoft canceled most of its Claude Code licenses and pushed employees to instead use GitHub Copilot CLI for greater control over internal tools and to combat rising AI costs, especially in data center infrastructure. During the Microsoft Build Live event in San Francisco on Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company has added more data center capacity for Microsoft Azure in the past 18 months than it did in the first decade of offering the cloud compute platform. As Microsoft’s spending priorities change, so has its company culture and workforce. Last year, Microsoft created new tools to help managers weed out low performance, barring underperformers from transferring within the company or getting rehired for two years. “While much of this feedback is encouraging, I also know we are in a time of intense and exciting change,” Coleman wrote in the most recent memo. “Many of you shared feelings of uncertainty and pressure as the work evolves. The leadership team and I hear that, and we’re committed to being more transparent, communicating more frequently, and giving context wherever we can.” Microsoft declined Fast Company‘s request for comment. Read the full memo, as per BI, here: My goal is to have an ongoing, open conversation with you about what it’s like to work at Microsoft. Today’s post is part of that, sharing what we’re seeing in our H2 Employee Signals results so we can have a dialogue about what’s most important to you. Your day-to-day experience matters, and so much of it is shaped by your manager and leader. At the same time, I want to be transparent about how things are feeling across Microsoft – what’s working, where we’re making progress, and where we still have more to do. Thank you to the 71 of you who took part in Employee Signals and shared nearly 265,000 comments. It helps us better understand where we are as a company right now. What the data is telling us Our Thriving score, feeling energized and empowered while doing meaningful work, rose 3 points to 79, with consistent progress across every element. Top strengths: A sharp focus on addressing security challenges, feeling included on teams, and teams working in ways that reflect our culture. When asked what helps you do your best work, comments pointed to empowerment, teamwork, culture, communication, and customer focus. Top opportunities: Expanding experiences in role, making sure you have what you need to be productive in today’s work environment, and more clearly connecting your work to broader org objectives. Comments surfaced challenges around strategy, communication, processes, customer focus, and speed of execution. While much of this feedback is encouraging, I also know we are in a time of intense and exciting change. Many of you shared feelings of uncertainty and pressure as the work evolves. The leadership team and I hear that, and we’re committed to being more transparent, communicating more frequently, and giving context wherever we can. Manager and Leader Signals In April, many of you leveraged our annual Manager and Leader Signals survey to share feedback with your manager and skip-level leader to help them grow. Highlights include: Confidence in your manager remained strong at 85. The top strength for our managers is embracing new challenges to drive innovative solutions. At the same time, one of our biggest opportunities is strengthening how managers coach and support others through their day-to-day challenges. Nearly 368,000 comments recognized strengths in clarity, empowerment, and driving results, while also pointing to opportunities around transparency, communication, and career development. Thanks again for sharing your feedback.