Supported Employment

Creating meaningful employment opportunities.

Explore our program
Overview
Toolkits
Stories

Two men in t-shirts stand together shoulder to shoulder, smiling. They stand outdoors with a tree and other landscaping behind.

What is the Supported Employment Program?

Microsoft’s Supported Employment Program partners with suppliers to create job opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Since launching in 2013, the program has engaged more than 600 workers across 28 countries. Supported employees are hired by suppliers based on merit and must meet the requirements needed for roles ranging from mailroom services to culinary operations. The program helps support their productivity and success on the job.

Supported employees are paid in accordance with Microsoft’s Supplier Code of Conduct, which requires fair wages for all workers, including those with disabilities, and prohibits sub-minimum wage practices. This approach helps address workforce needs while unlocking untapped potential.

Providing opportunities

Workers with I/DD receive wages and benefits from their supplier employers, plus the social benefits of working alongside colleagues of all abilities.

Supported Employees have been hired into over 40 different job types, including:

Café ambassador
Shuttle fueler/washer
Move team support staff

Reception/office assistant
Mail processing clerk
Warehouse technician

Laboratory technician
Facility inspector
Day porter

Audio-visual assistant
Food service worker
Groundskeeper

Toolkits

Microsoft is proud to support inclusive employment through partnerships with supplier organizations. In the Supported Employment program, Microsoft collaborates with supplier organizations who are solely responsible for hiring, managing, and supervising Supported Employees. These individuals are employed by the suppliers and not by Microsoft and are not directly supervised by Microsoft personnel. All job coaches involved in the program work directly with supplier organizations and operate independently, helping to support the success of Supported Employees.

Microsoft Supported Employment: Toolkit

This toolkit is voluntary and intended for suppliers and their teams. Use is optional and not required. This free and open-source toolkit includes a library of documents that can be used as a resource for launching similar programs. We encourage organizations to use this toolkit to open doors to employment opportunities for individuals with I/DD.

Explore v3.0 of the toolkit

Microsoft Supported Employment Manager, Gillian Maguire

Knowledge center

We provide training and offer best practices for hiring Supported Employees, creating a welcoming workplace, delivering effective onboarding, and building strong partnerships among employers, employees, and job coaches.

Prepare

Learn the four foundations for hiring a Supported Employee at your organization.

Request for information | PDF

Interview

Learn how to adapt your hiring practices to be inclusive.

Onboard

Learn how to utilize resources and team members to make onboarding a great experience for all.

Disability etiquette | DisabilityIN

Support

Learn how job coaches or other trained professionals can assist you and your Supported Employees to be successful.

Career growth

The supplier manager plays a key role in assisting your Supported Employee’s career growth and progression. By using open and respectful dialog, a manager can facilitate this during the onboarding process by setting expectations and identifying goals to strive for during their employment.

A manager and employee exchange a high five, in a cafe setting.

Set the stage for growth

The manager plays a key role in assisting your Supported Employee’s career growth and progression. By using open and respectful dialog, a manager can facilitate this during the onboarding process by setting expectations and identifying goals to strive for during their employment.

A job coach is speaking, she is wearing a blue top and glasses.

Empower growth

Learn how a manager can collaborate with a Supported Employee to achieve their growth goals. Tips include having regular check-ins, acknowledging positive skill development in the moment, and utilizing the skills of the job coach.

A Supported Employee, Nicole, is seated talking. She is wearing a black and white gingham shirt and a black apron.

A story of success

When she started working, Nicole’s job was to roll silverware. Learn about Nicole’s growth from those humble beginnings to her current role in the sandwich station, where she prepares 150 sandwiches for her customers at lunchtime. She is looking forward to building her knife skills and further developing her career.

Empowering Managers Toolkit

The Empowering Managers Toolkit is intended for suppliers who hire and manage supported employees. The toolkit is available to organizations looking to start or grow a Supported Employment Program. We encourage suppliers to use this toolkit to support managers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Explore the toolkit | PDF

A Supported Employee, Sam, is smiling pushing a black cart through a warehouse. Stacks of boxes and materials are on the floor behind him.

Stories

Jason Lakey

Day Porter
Pacific Landscape Maintenance at Microsoft

Jason's tenure as a part of the landscaping team is remarkable. During his over 20 years in role, he has been a day porter keeping campus clean and tidy. Recently—with support from his job coach and his manager—Jason has taken on more responsibilities; he drives a gator, sweeping the sports fields for metal items, and he uses technology to prepare a sidewalk audit. Jason spreads joy wherever he goes and is a strong ambassador for Supported Employment.

Hongqiang is seated wearing a white shirt and black waistcoat. He is in a cafe in a Microsoft building, with white and oranges chairs in the background.

Hongqiang Shi

Waiter
Mckintey at Microsoft

Hongqiang is a waiter at the Microsoft Cafe in Beijing China. He welcomes guests with a smile, serving food and restocking canteen utensils and supplies during the lunch rush. Hongqiang is self-reliant and holds himself to a high standard as he contributes to his team every day.

Minkee is seated wearing a plaid flannel shirt. He is smiling, wearing glasses. He is seated on a high-backed couch in an office setting with large windows.

Minkee Kim

Common Area Reset Coordinator
CBRE at Microsoft

Minkee works at the Reston Virginia Microsoft office. He recalibrates meeting rooms to ensure employees have a like-new functioning workspace. Minkee's organizational and technology skills keep the Microsoft location running smoothly.

Chloe is smiling standing behind the counter of a cafe at Microsoft. She is wearing a red ball cap and a blue shirt and blue apron.

Chloe Knowles

Food Services Utility
Compass Group at Microsoft

Chloe is in constant motion during the busy lunch times at the Food Hall in one of Microsoft's new buildings in Redmond, Washington. Chloe delivers mobile food orders and restocks condiments. She contributes her energy, reliability and attention to detail to the well-oiled team that delivers a range of delicious food to Microsoft employees.

Tanya is smiling, standing in a warehouse. She is wearing a blue hoodie and a high visibility vest. Racks with boxes and other materials are in the background of the warehouse.

Tanya Harris

Production Associate
Suddath Relocation at Microsoft
Tanya is a hard-working team member with a fun personality. She has worked for Suddath Relocation Services at Microsoft for four years. She has progressed as a production associate in the warehouse and is constantly learning new things.

Austin is smiling, putting on his blue flowered Hawai'ian shirt. In the background is a corporate office setting.

Austin Landon

Maintenance Assistant
CBRE at Microsoft
Austin is a team member of the Common Area Reset Team with CBRE at Microsoft. He assists in documenting missing furniture from rooms and checking the quality of the furniture. Austin brings his aloha spirit and can-do attitude to his team.

Leila is seated, smiling, in an office setting with large windows and plants in the background. She wears a blue button-up shirt and khaki waistcoat.

Leila Miles

Receptionist
Exela at Microsoft

Leila is a Microsoft receptionist. She welcomes and assists guests on campus with enthusiasm and a helping hand. She also works with employees on any assistance they might need with facilities. Her future goals include a leadership position, like helping to train incoming receptionists.

Phillip is standing in a cafe holding a pizza peel. There is fire visible in a woodfire stove behind him. He is wearing a ball cap, and red shirt and an apron.

Phillip Thelin

Assistant Chef
Compass Group at Microsoft
Phillip works for Compass Group at Microsoft as an assistant chef at one of the Microsoft cafes. He started out by performing basic food prep tasks, but after creating a from-scratch lunch for his supervisor, there was no doubt it was time for him to take on new responsibilities in the kitchen. The rest, as they say, is history.

Kyle is speaking, standing outside. There are trees and landscaping behind him. He is wearing a ball cap and a high visibility vest.

Kyle Van Allan

Crew Member
Northwest Landscaping Services at Microsoft

Kyle is a crew member of our landscaping team, with Northwest Landscape Services at Microsoft. He drives a golf cart around our 500-acre campus and empties the trashcans outside of buildings. He has incredible attention to detail and his future career growth wishes include being a crew leader of 3 to 4 people.

Contact us

For more information, please contact us.