Microsoft's Satya Nadella under fire after saying women 'shouldn't as for pay raise because it's not good karma'

Nadella claimed not asking for a pay raise makes a female employee more 'trustworthy' and karma ultimately pays off

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has come under intense scrutiny for saying women should not ask for a pay rise “because that’s good karma”.

On Thursday, Nadella told a conference for women in the IT industry that they do not need to ask for more money and should put their trust in the system.

But the “system” at Microsoft is largely male and white. Its own figures, posted last month, revealed around 71 per cent of staff are male and 60 per cent white.

Nadella, who was the first male keynote speaker at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing event in Phoenix, Arizona, 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.”

Not asking for a raise, he added, was “good karma” that would help a boss realise the employee could be trusted and should have more responsibility.

Nadella’s comments were immediately rejected by a colleague who was interviewing him on stage.

Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and a Microsoft director, said she disagreed and instead advised women to research salary information at their firms and practise how to ask for a raise with people they trust.

His remark was criticised on Twitter. Lucy Marcus, expert on boards and corporate governance, tweeted: “Karma doesn’t pay the bills.”

Another commentator tweeted: “‘I became CEO by patiently waiting and having faith in the system,’ said no CEO ever.”

But Nadella later backtracked and apologised, admitting on Twitter he was “inarticulate re how women should ask for raise” and said his “industry must close gender pay gap so a raise is not needed because of a bias”.

He also posted an email he sent to Microsoft staff in which he said he had “answered that question completely wrong”, adding: “Men and women should get equal pay for equal work. And when it comes to career advice on getting a raise … If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask.”