Despite recent reports suggesting Microsoft’s board of directors is confident in CEO Steve Ballmer, the latest Glassdoor reviews suggest the executive’s approval rating has continued to slide among the company’s wider group of employees. Numbers from the most recent quarter suggest only 29 percent of Microsoft staffers approve of the executive, compared to 40 percent in the previous quarter.
The CEO has experienced a relatively steady decline in approval ratings since the second quarter of 2008, when 65 percent of staffers gave positive ratings. When the results from each quarter are combined, over 1,500 employee reviews establish an approval rating of 47 percent.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Glassdoor’s ratings suggest Apple CEO Steve Jobs leads the pack with a 97-percent approval rating. Intel head Paul Otellini is not far off, with 94 percent approval, while Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos achieved an 84-percent rating.
Hedge fund manager David Einhorn recently called for Microsoft to find a new CEO, after labeling Ballmer as the “biggest overhang” that is holding back the company’s stock performance. Although the executive is somewhat controversial among investors, separate reports suggest the board of directors, including co-founder Bill Gates, does not share the same sentiment
