Scott Sutfin-Glowski, a principal software engineer at Microsoft for 13 years, announced his resignation Thursday in a mass email sent to thousands of colleagues, protesting the company’s continued cloud services contracts with the Israeli military. “I can no longer accept enabling what may be the worst atrocities of our time,” Sutfin-Glowski wrote, choosing to leave rather than face potential termination for dissent.Glowski’s exit marks the latest escalation in months of internal turmoil at Microsoft over its Israeli military contracts. The company has fired five employees over Gaza-related demonstrations, including four who occupied President Brad Smith’s office in August.Under pressure, in September, Microsoft announced it had stopped providing certain services to Israel Defense Forces’ Unit 8200 after investigating an August Guardian report alleging the intelligence unit used Microsoft’s Azure platform to track “a million calls an hour” from Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The limited action, however, came only after Microsoft President Brad Smith issued a stern warning to employees during an internal meeting. Defending the August firing of four workers who occupied his office during Gaza-related protests, Smith told staff: “Anybody who is smart enough to get a job at Microsoft is smart enough to know that you don’t get to storm in and break into buildings and occupy other people’s offices and keep your job at Microsoft.”Sutfin-Glowski’s departure comes as a ceasefire in Gaza takes effect after two years of conflict. In his resignation letter, he referenced a February Associated Press report indicating Israel’s military maintains at least 635 Microsoft subscriptions, with the vast majority still active. He also criticised Microsoft for eliminating communication channels that previously allowed employees to raise concerns about the Israeli military’s use of company products.
Protests intensify despite Microsoft’s crackdown on dissent
On Thursday, renewed demonstrations erupted at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington headquarters. The No Azure for Apartheid group displayed banners reading “WE CALL BULLSHIT. CUT ALL TIES WITH ISRAEL NOW” and “Microsoft Build KILLS,” featuring images of warplanes and missiles deployed from the Azure cloud logo.Over 1,500 Microsoft employees have signed petitions calling for the company to endorse a ceasefire. Among those previously fired was Riki Fameli, an Azure Storage engineer who told Business Insider that “proper channels are dead ends” for employee concerns about company policies. Microsoft has now terminated five employees total over protests related to Israeli military contracts.
Limited service cuts fail to satisfy employee demands
Microsoft President Smith confirmed the company found “evidence that supports elements of The Guardian’s reporting” and blocked cloud storage and AI services to Unit 8200. An Israeli security official downplayed the impact, telling CNN there is “no damage to the operational capabilities of the IDF.” Intelligence sources told The Guardian that Unit 8200 quickly moved its massive surveillance data trove from Microsoft’s Dutch servers to Amazon Web Services within days of the investigation’s publication.Activists argue Microsoft’s action affects only a single unit while the vast majority of the company’s military contracts remain intact. The No Azure for Apartheid group, which has been pressuring Microsoft for over a year, called the September decision “a significant and unprecedented win” but vowed to continue organizing until all demands are met.Microsoft declined to comment on Sutfin-Glowski’s resignation.