Microsoft inches towards equal pay goal

Microsoft has announced it will continue to commit to equal pay for equal work, as part of the company's move to build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

In a blog post, Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft human resources executive vice president, revealed on Monday that for every $1 earned by men, female employees in the United States earn 99.8 percent at the same job title and level.

Meanwhile, racial and ethnic minorities in the US combined earn $1.004 for every $1 earned by their Caucasian counterparts at the same job title and level. More specifically, African American employees are at $1.003; Hispanic employees are at 99.9 cents; and Asian employees are at $1.006.

"These numbers reflect our commitment to equal pay for equal work, and I'm encouraged by these results. We will continue our commitment to equal pay by monitoring this data and publicly disclosing it as part of our annual public diversity and inclusion information and data reporting. We will also continue work to ensure that all of our employees have equal opportunity," Hogan said.

The pay rate at Microsoft has improved in comparison to a year and a half ago, with Hogan noting at the time that for every $1 earned by men, female employees in the US earned 99.7 cents at the same job title and level.

Microsoft's commitment to diversity and inclusion falls under an announcement CEO Satya Nadella made a year and a half a year ago that would see the company recruit more diverse talent, expand training to foster a more diverse and inclusive culture, and ensure equal pay and equal opportunity.

But Microsoft is not the only company promoting workplace equality. Salesforce has partnered with the United Nations (UN) Women National Committee (NC) Australia, as part of the HeForShe campaign, to develop a guiding set of corporate principles to help other Australian companies develop a gender equality strategy. The corporate framework is expected to be released later this year.

Additionally, Salesforce said it will work with UN Women NC Australia through workshops to explore how technology can help drive the gender equality message further.

"To support our focus on advancing gender equality, we look to partner with organisations deeply committed to women's empowerment. Salesforce shares our same vision and values and we look forward to working with the company to accelerate gender equality in corporate Australia," said Janelle Weissman, executive director at UN Women National Committee Australia.

Other global companies that have made similar commitments include Pinterest and Twitter, both of which said they were going to improve their hiring goals for women and underrepresented minorities in 2016.