On June 23, the British electorate went to the polls to vote in a referendum on whether the United Kingdom should stay a part of the European Union. The campaign from the Remain camp, was dubbed "project fear" by the rival Leave camp because it claimed that many businesses could pull out of the country. While it is true that some businesses may withdraw from the UK but Microsoft won"t be one of them, according to its CEO Satya Nadella.
Speaking on CNBC, Nadella said:
“When it comes to the UK, we"ve been there for 30 years and we"re going to continue to invest because it"s a huge market and a place which is pretty core to us. We"re a global company – 55 percent of our revenues are global – so what happens in Britain and around the globe matters a lot to us.”
The UK, which accounts for 7-8% of Microsoft"s revenue, is home to 3,000 employees across six offices. Nadella"s comments confirming that Microsoft will stay in the UK support what the company"s UK chief executive Michel Van der Bel said earlier in the year:
“Whatever the outcome of the referendum, we respect the decisions made by UK voters. Our commitment to our staff and business here remains firm, but we also believe the UK remaining in the EU supports important criteria for continued and future investment by Microsoft and others.”
Luckily for employees at Microsoft UK, the company is not planning to cut jobs in the country as a result of the vote either.
Since the referendum, several pundits have warned of a negative impact a Brexit would have on the technology sector in the UK. OnePlus is one of the latest companies to actually suggest a concrete action as a consequence of the vote, explaining that it will likely have to increase the price of its OnePlus 3 smartphone in the UK, due to the drop in the value of the Pound.
Source: Bizjournals