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In Redmond specifically, Chinese Americans have also made uncountable contributions to the tech industry whether in the form of the countless employees working in Redmond’s tech industry or the hundreds of small startups filling each small niche in the industry.
-- Lingyuan Y.
Little Masters Club Volunteer
Microsoft
Microsoft Campus, 2009
Since 1985, Redmond has been home to one of the largest and most influential tech corporations in the world—Microsoft.
Microsoft is also among the largest participants in the H1B VISA program, bringing tens of thousands of highly skilled workers into the US. While not all of these workers were from China, a signifigant number of them are.
An example of this is Microsoft which, in their 2024 Global Diversity and Inclusion Report, reported a staggering 35.9% Asian representation, 25.8% of which identified as east asian (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean).
Erica Lan – Corporate Vice President for Engineering at Microsoft Cloud
Interviewed by Serena C., Little Masters Club Volunteer
Q: Does Microsoft support diversity and inclusion, specifically for East Asian employees?
A: Yes, the company emphasizes diversity, with a focus on people from different races and genders. We also have celebrations for Asian festivals, and I remember I’ve been invited to events for first-generation Asian immigrants to discuss our unique challenges. These events focus on raising awareness, building community, and engaging executives as sponsors.
Q: What challenges do East Asian professionals face in the U.S. tech industry today?
A: It’s a hard question, because I don’t want to sound negative. But I think language and culture can be challenges. Sometimes, even when people can speak very well in their native tongue or in English, at times there are cultural differences in the way people speak to each other. The same vocabulary or phrase in different languages can have different connotations over time or to different people, which can create misunderstandings.
CHIME (Chinese Microsoft Employee Network), founded in 1992, has become one of the greater Seattle area’s largest and most well known organizations in the Chinese community
When asked about the contributions of Chinese Americans in Redmond, CHIME Band members and Microsoft employees Ping Fan and Hongyu, were at a loss for words. There was simply too much to talk about, citing the presence of Chinese workers in the industry as well as the countless high ranking executives in many of the largest tech companies.
While talking about CHIME’s events, current Chair of CHIME Zinan Zhang said that “every time I enter that scene, I immediately feel, wow, it’s Chinese New Year” (我每次进入到那个场面里面我瞬间的能感受到，哦，这是过年了). In fact, this is an important part of any community: to have a place where they can celebrate their traditions that may not be as recognized in the States.
MLOptics
MLOptics is a leading company in the quickly growing field of augmented and virtual reality. Originally based in Nanjing, China, they opened their Redmond branch in 2019 to service customers in the states, including several major tech companies. Their work plays a role in many other industries, such as autonomous driving which requires advanced optical lenses and components
In 2023, CIOReview: The Enterprise Technology Magazine deemed MLOptics a “Global Optical Metrology leader in the AR/VR Industry”. Metrology, is the scientific study of measurement. and for MLOptics is includes taking extremely precise measurements using light.
When asked why many Chinese people have chosen to come to the Redmond area, a MLOptics representative said that “大家都是为了追求自己的目标或者goals” translating to "everyone is trying to chase their own goals".
Lucas Wang, MLOptics’ Software Leader and Office Manager, added that “Redmond 相当于是一个行业的中心”, meaning Redmond was basically the center of the industry.
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