employees – Sick Gaming

Posted on April 4, 2022 by — Leave a comment

Empowering families through every stage, phase and season

Each April we celebrate Families month at Microsoft, and our theme this year is “Empowering everyone through every stage, phase and season of our personal and professional lives.” The Families Employee Resource Group (ERG) has a vision to support employees in whatever family role they play. Collectively, we discard the idea that one can leave one’s personal life at the door when coming to work, because the modern reality is that our work lives are no longer fully separate from our personal lives. Being our whole selves means balancing a wide variety of personal and work responsibilities that all come with a host of expected and unexpected challenges. With the right support, our home life and work life can become symbiotic, empowering us to thrive as family members and as employees.

There is no playbook for how a family should be. Each of us holds unique views and perspectives about our own family, but the one thing that is constant is that every one of us has a family, regardless of whether it is a family tree that connects us or the ties of human devotion. My own family story fundamentally shaped who I am today. I was 2 when my parents divorced. Shortly after my father gave up his rights to me, leaving my mother to raise my sister and I alone in Las Vegas and later Reno, Nevada. My mom, and the care and love she provided, serves as a huge inspiration for me. Both my mother and my father have been married a few times and I have two half-sisters, a half-brother and an adopted brother.

Later in life I re-connected with my father, finding a path to that relationship through my own adult maturity and understanding. You might wonder how I could have a relationship with my father since he gave up his rights to me, but as a teenager I was interested in reconnecting. I was curious to know more about his story and who he was, and that led to a wonderful father-daughter relationship for many years.

This influenced who I am today, happily married to my incredible husband of 29 years, with one beautiful daughter and a dog. One fond memory for me is when we gathered for our first Thanksgiving together in 2006 with my father and extended family. I love seeing generations celebrating together, and even though we did not all know each other well at the time we came together as a family and continue to do so to this day.

Ami Silverman with family — Ami Silverman with her daughter and husband.

My evolving definition of family has led to an intimate understanding that family trees come in all different species — some grow tall, others short. Some are evergreen, and others lose their leaves, only to grow them back. When I had the opportunity to be a co-executive sponsor of the Microsoft Families ERG, I couldn’t have thought of a better opportunity to get engaged in a topic so universal and relevant to every person.

At Microsoft we believe family life is not an impediment to success. This belief fuels our culture and the Families community. I am extremely proud of the work our community does to recognize the range of needs and dimensions of identity under the umbrella of family. Our team provides resources across numerous topics such as mental health, parenting challenges and caring for aging relatives. We focus on helping families with and without children; create meaningful connection opportunities so our community can build and leverage networks; inspire learning; share common experiences; and amplify impact. We focus on programming that develops skill sets for resiliency, grit and stress management in the context of family crisis. And we promote the understanding of others’ lived experiences.

We all structure our lives and define families in many ways across cultures, generations and circumstances. Personal needs and work goals are fluid as we move through phases of life, career and family. That’s why at Microsoft we believe it’s so critical to have tools and products to leverage that help increase our well-being and enable us to be most effective in both our personal and professional lives and across all the roles we each hold. We’re focused on this inside Microsoft and beyond; from our gender-neutral caregiving benefits, to our principles and apps for online safety and responsible gaming.

These last two years as the world navigated a global pandemic, we have witnessed challenging demands on families, caregivers and children, from extended school closures, to public restrictions, to impacts on elder care. During these times we have opened our homes to each other while working virtually, built our empathy and grown our ERG over 40% just in the last six months!

We have heard stories of hope, resilience and inspiration during the pandemic. The impact on people’s resources and well-being has been significant; at the same time families of all types have leaned on one another, strengthened connections and discovered new ways to engage. At Microsoft, we will keep strengthening these connections. This time has offered a reminder that we must all continue to support each other, because this is life, and family — in all its variations — is integral to our lives.

Posted on August 30, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Paid parental leave matters

Building on our 2015 announcement
Three years ago, we announced that we would require a wide variety of suppliers that do business with Microsoft in the United States to provide their employees with the important benefit of paid time off. Today we are announcing that over the next year we will take a further step, to ensure that these suppliers also provide their employees who handle our work with paid parental leave.

We have long recognized that the health, well-being and diversity of our employees helps Microsoft succeed. That’s why we provide industry-leading benefits for our employees, including comprehensive health and wellness programs for families, paid vacation, paid sick leave and paid time off for new parents.

We also know that we rely on a wide array of other companies to supply us with goods and services that reflect their core competencies, and that the people who work for our suppliers also are critical to our success. That is why we took the step three years ago to require our U.S. suppliers doing substantial business with Microsoft to provide paid time off for their employees. Paid time off is good both for employers and employees, and it was the right step for our business. By implementing that requirement, we were able to focus our resources on businesses that share with us a commitment providing employees with important benefits such as paid time off. We believe now is the time to work with our suppliers to take a next important step.

What we’re doing
Over the next 12 months we will work with our U.S. suppliers to implement this new paid parental leave policy. It will require that suppliers offer their employees a minimum of 12 weeks paid parental leave, up to $1,000 per week. This change applies to all parents employed by our suppliers who take time off for the birth or adoption of a child. The new policy applies to suppliers with more than 50 employees and covers supplier employees who perform substantial work for Microsoft. This minimum threshold applies to all of our suppliers across the U.S. and is not intended to supplant a state law that is more generous. Many of our suppliers already offer strong benefits packages to their employees, and suppliers are of course welcome to offer more expansive leave benefits to their employees.

Our new supplier parental leave requirement is informed by important work on paid parental leave done in states, including Washington. In 2017, Washington state passed family leave legislation, including paid parental leave. This new law will take effect in 2020. As we looked at this legislation, however, we realized that while it will benefit the employees of our suppliers in Washington state, it will leave thousands of valued contributors outside of Washington behind. So, we made a decision to apply Washington’s parental leave requirement more broadly, and not to wait until 2020 to begin implementation.

Microsoft will work with our suppliers to understand the impacts of this change, and we will make these changes in a thoughtful way. We appreciate that this may ultimately result in increased costs for Microsoft, and we’ll put a process in place for addressing these issues with our suppliers. Our first step will be reaching out to our suppliers to discuss the impact of this policy change.

The case for paid parental leave
We recognize today’s announcement comes during an ongoing national dialogue about the importance of paid parental leave. The case for paid parental leave is clear. Studies show that paid parental leave enriches the lives of families. Women who take paid maternity leave are more likely to be in the workforce a year later and earn more than mothers who do not receive paid time off. Employers who offer paid time off for new mothers experience improved productivity, higher morale and lower turnover rates. And, paid parental leave is not solely a benefit for women. Data from California’s paid family leave program shows that men take paternity leave at twice the rate and for longer periods of time when the leave is paid. This increased bonding and time spent caring for young children is correlated with positive outcomes such as higher test scores for these children. Further, when men and women have the opportunity to take paid leave, it can help counteract gender caregiving stereotypes, neutralize stigmas and promote equity in the home and office.

Despite these clear benefits, just 13 percent of private sector workers in the U.S. have access to paid parental leave. And the lack of access to parental leave cuts broadly across professions – according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 22 percent of professional positions and 7 to 8 percent of workers in service and maintenance jobs have access to paid parental leave.

Like many large employers, we welcome the opportunity to engage in the important national conversation about how all U.S. workers, regardless of where they work, can access paid parental leave. In the meantime, we will continue to focus our resources on doing business with companies that share our commitment to increase workforce inclusion and support employees and their families. As we gain experience with this new approach, we’ll share what we learn with others. And as always, we’ll look forward to learning more ourselves.

Posted on July 31, 2018 by — Leave a comment

How thinking like a recruiter can open more doors in your job search

Building your career is a journey filled with challenges, excitement, and forks in the road. And journeys are easier with maps. In this column, job experts answer your questions and deliver advice to help you take the next step.

Question: I’m interested in a role that I found on a job site. I reached out to a recruiter at the company through LinkedIn, but I didn’t hear back. Did I go about this the wrong way?

Answer: If you’ve spotted the perfect role on a job site, you may be tempted to run a quick LinkedIn search, identify a recruiter who works at that company, and reach out. Sometimes this approach works, but more often, you never hear anything back. Why?

While LinkedIn is a great way to connect with others during a job search, you may be going about your networking in the wrong way—or even with the wrong person.

Microsoft recruiter Mike Maglio offers a simple approach to using LinkedIn to increase your chance of getting a response and making a meaningful connection. His secret? Think like a recruiter.

It’s no surprise that recruiters use LinkedIn’s search tool to find potential candidates for their open jobs. The trick, Maglio says, is for job seekers to use the same search tool to find recruiters who might be hiring for the jobs you want.

“In their profile, a lot of recruiters will explain what they do and what organizations they cover to show up in searches more accurately,” he said. You can find them by doing your own search.

For example, if you are a software engineer who is passionate about working on Azure technology, search for “Azure AND recruiter AND Microsoft.” Maglio suggests job seekers use Boolean search logic with terms such as “AND” to yield more relevant results with a more accurate listing of recruiters in that space. “Use filters such as current company, location, etc. to get even more relevant results,” he added.

“Even within a product as big as Azure, you still want to get as specific with your search as possible,” said Maglio. “The more targeted you are, the better.”

Check out the profiles of the recruiters you found, and then choose a couple who work with your specific qualifications, such as software engineer, recent graduate, and Azure solutions.

Now that you’ve located the right recruiters, it’s time to introduce yourself. Craft a message that is concise, precise, and offers information that explains who you are. “Recruiters get many messages, so being direct and specific increases the likelihood you’ll get a response,” said Maglio.

Use a warm welcome, such as “Hello [Recruiter Name]” and then be clear about what you are seeking (e.g., referral for a role, connection to a team, information, etc.). A recruiter is going to look at your profile, so you don’t have to send a full resume or write an introduction with all of your experience.

Do you have a mutual connection? Mention that person in your introduction—or better yet ask your mutual connection to make an InMail introduction between you and the recruiters, Maglio suggested. This gives you an automatic “trust boost” because the recruiters are familiar with the connection who’s referring you.

“If you are reaching out about a role, include the link to the job posting. Let the recruiters know that you’re interested and would like to be considered for the role,” he said. It will also help recruiters connect you with other recruiters or hiring teams, in case that specific role is handled by someone else.

If you are simply wanting more information, be clear about that. If the recruiters can help, they might potentially schedule time to chat with you or even refer you to someone in the organization.

Recruiters need to understand who you are beyond your resume and LinkedIn profile, so use your chance to show them what you can bring to the company or job.

“You should be able to demonstrate your value and show you are a knowledgeable applicant, but be concise,” said Maglio.

“You could briefly speak to a relevant article or press release that ties into your passion. Or—if possible—call out a patent, applications you’ve built, or a slideshow of projects that can be viewed,” he said.

These examples show your passions and interests, beyond just your resume. “But keep it short and sweet,” Maglio said. “The last thing you want to do is bury that kind of info.”

If you’ve followed these steps and haven’t been able to connect with the first set of recruiters you’ve identified, keep applying and refining these steps.

The right connection is out there, along with the role of your dreams.