"It's simple, Microsoft is stronger when we expand opportunity and we have a diverse workforce that represents our customers," writes Microsoft Corporate VP of Worldwide Operations Mary Ellen Smith, who has a teenage son with autism, in a blog entry.
This pilot program will be run in partnership with Specialisterne, a Danish nonprofit that helps train people with autism for careers in IT. SAP has worked with Specialisterne in the past, in line with the German database company's corporate goal of having 1% of its workforce be people with autism by 2020.
"People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft, each individual is different, some have amazing ability to retain information, think at a level of detail and depth or excel in math or code. It's a talent pool that we want to continue to bring to Microsoft," Smith writes.
Smith also says that this is the company's first step towards hiring more people with different disabilities, saying that Microsoft is a great environment for the differently abled to develope their skills and careers.
If you're interested in the pilot program, Microsoft asks you to email resumes to msautism@microsoft.com.