Microsoft's Nadella fluffs lines over equal pay for women

Satya Nadella backtracks after implying during Q&A that women at tech companies should not be asking for pay rises

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella says he was wrong to imply that women working in the tech industry should rely on "karma" to obtain a pay rise.

Speaking at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing event yesterday, Nadella came unstuck when his interviewer Maria Klawe asked him if he had any advice for women who aren't comfortable asking for a raise.

Nadella said it is less a question of asking for a pay increase and more about "having faith that the system will give you the right raises as you go along".

"That, I think, might be one of the additional super powers that, quite frankly, women who don't ask for a raise have, because it is good karma. It will come back because somebody is going to know that's the kind of person I want to trust and give more responsibility to."

Naddella added: "The reality is your best work is not followed with your best rewards; your best work then has impact, people recognise it and then you get the rewards and so you have to somehow think that through."

Klawe, who is president of Harvey Mudd College, retorted that this topic was "one of the very few things I disagree with you on", earning applause from the predominantly female audience. She advised women applying for jobs in the male-dominated tech industry to swot up on what a reasonable salary for that post is and to role-play asking for a pay rise with people they trust.

After the event, Nadella tweeted that his reply had been "inarticulate". He later acknowledged in an email to Microsoft employees that he had answered the question "completely wrong".

The issue of gender pay equality has added resonance for Microsoft right now following its release of workplace diversity data showing 71 per cent of its staff are male.

"I answered that question completely wrong," Nadella said in his missive to staff.

"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."

A video of the interview can be found here.