Glassdoor, a job search engine that also allows employees to anonymously review companies and their management, released the results of their Highest Rated CEOs survey. While a number of tech CEOs made top 50 list, with Google’s Larry Page taking the number one spot, notably Microsoft’s Satya Nadella was missing all together.
The results are determined by a survey Glassdoor administers over the course of a year to employees of large companies (defined as 1,000 or more employees). Venturebeat’s coverage of the survey notes that while Larry Page rose to the top with a 97% approval rating, of the top 50 CEOs, “only 15 tech CEOs made the list this year, compared to 20 tech CEOs on the 2014 list.”
One possibility for the absence of Satya Nadella could be as simple as the sampling of the survey population or the results for Nadella not meeting the threshold of reviews needed as the survey is only based upon users registered on Glassdoor’s website.
The more likely possibility Nadella didn’t make the list is that Microsoft has undergone a significant restructuring during the course of the survey as the company cuts 18,000 positions from their workforce. Those former employees might be using Glassdoor to search for new jobs and happen to leave less than favorable reviews because of theirr forced departure.
As Winbeta also previously reported, Microsoft’s substantial restructuring has been said to be stressing out its employees. The constant change in Microsoft’s services, its organizational structure, and the laying off of so many of thousands of workers, could have played a significant factor in Nadella’s approval rating not making the cut for the top 50 CEOs.
That is not to say Nadella isn’t left out of the news because he didn’t make Glassdoors list. Most recently Time listed Nadella as one of the most influential people of 2015 and Juniper Research named him as the most influential tech CEO. And as the highest paid CEO of 2014, his shareholders and Board members seem to approve of his leadership and vision for Microsoft as he prepares to launch Windows 10 and continues to transform Microsoft into a “mobile first, cloud” first company.
