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Microsoft workers demand it drop $480 million U.S. Army contract


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Microsoft workers demand it drop $480 million U.S. Army contract

By Paresh Dave

 

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A Microsoft store is pictured in New York City, New York, U.S., August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Some Microsoft Corp employees on Friday demanded that the company cancel a $480 million hardware contract to supply the U.S. Army, with 94 workers signing a petition calling on the company to stop developing "any and all weapons technologies."

 

The organizing effort, described to Reuters by three Microsoft workers, offers the latest example in the last year of tech employees protesting cooperation with governments on emerging technologies.

 

Microsoft won a contract in November to supply the Army with at least 2,500 prototypes of augmented reality headsets, which digitally display contextual information in front of a user's eyes. The government has said the devices would be used on the battlefield and in training to improve soldiers "lethality, mobility and situational awareness."

 

In the petition to Microsoft executives, posted on Twitter, the workers said they "did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used." They called on the company to develop "a public-facing acceptable use policy" for its technology and an external review board to publicly enforce it.

 

Microsoft said in a statement that it always appreciates employee feedback. It also referred to an October blog post by its president, Brad Smith, in which he said the company remained committed to assisting the military and would advocate for laws to ensure responsible use of new technologies.

 

The U.S. Army did not provide immediate comment.

 

Shares of Microsoft fell 7 cents to $110.90 after hours on Friday.

 

Though many governments want to draw upon the expertise of the biggest U.S. tech companies, employee resistance has added a new challenge to already complicated relationships.

 

Worker pushback led Alphabet Inc last year to announce it would not renew a Pentagon contract in which its artificial intelligence technology is used to analyze drone imagery.

 

In other cases, employee criticism has invited greater public scrutiny to deals, such as $10 billion cloud computing contract yet to be awarded and various contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

One Microsoft worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear whether any of the lead petitioners' work was part of the Army contract. Another said several organizers work in the company's cloud computing division, which is competing with rivals Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services to gain more government work.

 

Microsoft is expected unveil updates to HoloLens, its headset for businesses and governments, during an event at the Mobile World Congress industry conference in Barcelona on Sunday.

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-23

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12 minutes ago, keith101 said:

Microsoft employees are paid to do a job and paid very well so if they don't like their job they have the option of finding another job not dictating what they do .

They also have the option to voice their opinion.

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6 hours ago, keith101 said:

Microsoft employees are paid to do a job and paid very well so if they don't like their job they have the option of finding another job not dictating what they do .

The pointy heads have an absolute right not to work on military projects. Very brave and moral stance. Well done!

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1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

And so do the owners of Microsoft who also have the right to terminate any worker they feel is not supporting their company, its decisions and management.

Agree.

 

But as an employer I want to know how the employees feel about the products we make.

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6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Some Microsoft Corp employees on Friday demanded that the company cancel a $480 million hardware contract to supply the U.S. Army, with 94 workers signing a petition calling on the company to stop developing "any and all weapons technologies."

 

Wonder how many of these highly principled people will carry the noble fight further and refuse to pay income taxes.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, digger70 said:

So they don't care if they get sacked and have no job. they will get new workers no probs.

I suspect you are quite wrong

 

Good pointy heads don't grow on trees! They are in a sellers market! They're not car assembly workers!

 

I had a related if minuscule situation back in the late 80s. Early A.I. Start up. Battle field simulation work for RARDE Fort Halstead and also work on intelligent torpedoes for ARE Portland. Some resistance from pointy heads. However, it turns out that Priciples of Underwater Sound and a trip on a submarine won the day together with massive quantities of Pizza!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Underwater-Sound-Robert-Urick/dp/0932146627

 

If you're interested. ????

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8 hours ago, stevenl said:

They also have the option to voice their opinion.

Indeed they do. I haven't a clue what profession you are engaged in, but if you work for someone else, then speak your mind as well when you don't agree with who their customers are.

 

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3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Company loyalty is a one way street.

I served in uniform for 20 years. Loyalty was two-way and proved numerous time during my career. 

 

My last working years were being employed by a multi-billion, family owned business and loyalty was a two way street there as well.

 

Perhaps your experience with loyalty was limited, but certainly not the experiences that I have had. Loyalty is earned by those that appreciate and practice the concept.

 

It does not arrive when the expectation excedes the performance rendered.

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As a MSFT shareholder I will certainly be paying close attention to how Microsoft handles this. If they cancel the contract under pressure I will be eliminating the position. The issue for me is management and how they handle employees not the military contract. I can't invest in a company that run from the bottom up.

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8 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

As a MSFT shareholder I will certainly be paying close attention to how Microsoft handles this. If they cancel the contract under pressure I will be eliminating the position. The issue for me is management and how they handle employees not the military contract. I can't invest in a company that run from the bottom up.

I agree. Dictation of contracts by employees far excedes their job descriptions. If they are so passionate about principles, they can quit, take their liberal agendas to the street and march until their unemployment benefits expire.

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14 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

As a MSFT shareholder I will certainly be paying close attention to how Microsoft handles this. If they cancel the contract under pressure I will be eliminating the position. The issue for me is management and how they handle employees not the military contract. I can't invest in a company that run from the bottom up.

Yes, your choice.

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6 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Yes, your choice.

 

Well obviously it is my choice. I was getting at the larger implication of shareholder sentiment if they don't squash this like a bug. There are a few million people with their fingers about to hit the sell button if this goes bad.

 

Like it or not the military is one of the largest growth areas in business. If MSFT won't deal with the military they have just limited a great amount of potential growth. All that sweet sweet tax payer money.

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2 hours ago, Grouse said:

I suspect you are quite wrong

 

Good pointy heads don't grow on trees! They are in a sellers market! They're not car assembly workers!

 

I had a related if minuscule situation back in the late 80s. Early A.I. Start up. Battle field simulation work for RARDE Fort Halstead and also work on intelligent torpedoes for ARE Portland. Some resistance from pointy heads. However, it turns out that Priciples of Underwater Sound and a trip on a submarine won the day together with massive quantities of Pizza!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Underwater-Sound-Robert-Urick/dp/0932146627

 

If you're interested. ????

 

I agree that tech workers are in high demand. However Microsoft is one of the most prestigious companies in the industry to work for. I imagine they can repurpose some talent and recruit more easily enough. 94 workers is a drop in the bucket. Microsoft might even find they can replace them with less. I would be looking carefully at who signed the petition and what their job roles are. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Grouse said:

The pointy heads have an absolute right not to work on military projects. Very brave and moral stance. Well done!

Yeah they should show their bravery and moral stance by resigning

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