Microsoft Sends 3,000 Employees Packing
Microsoft yesterday sent out pink slips to thousands of workers.
Back in January the company reported revenue of $16.6 billion for the quarter, $900 million lower than it expected. That same day, Microsoft announced it would be cutting 5,000 jobs over the next year and a half. 1,400 layoffs were immediate.
This week, the company let 3,000 more members of staff go. Steve Ballmer said in an email that the company was “mostly but not all done” with the planned cuts to be completed by June 2010.
“With this announcement, we are mostly but not all done with the planned 5,000 job eliminations by June 2010. We are moving quickly to reach this target in response to consistent feedback from our people and business groups that it’s important to make decisions and reduce uncertainty for employees as quickly as possible, and so that organizations can concentrate their efforts and resources on strategic objectives."
In January's memo, the CEO said the company will continue to hire as it fires: “As part of the process of adjustments, we will eliminate up to 5,000 positions in R&D, marketing, sales, finance, LCA, HR, and IT over the next 18 months, of which 1,400 will occur today. We'll also open new positions to support key investment areas during this same period of time. Our net headcount in these functions will decline by 2,000 to 3,000 over the next 18 months.” Laoffs are expected to save $1.5bn in operating costs.
Check out the rest of Ballmers email on ZDNet.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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grieve I guess when a company reports revenue of $16.6 billion for the quarter they need to lay off people.... ?Reply -
danimal_the_animal Yeah lets fire 5000 people so we can build all kinds of non work related crap at the campus.....Reply -
misnad Well, each organisation has their own quarterly targets. Guess this is the new response trend when they fail to meet them. But then again, a quick sudden layoff is better than sending small pockets of staff home a week at a time as that would cause a lot of anxiety among the workforce. Each person would wonder, "Am I next?". A company's got to do what a company's got to do, I guess. The flipside of it is that they might need those 3000 employees back the next quarter if they've suddenly seen a massive growth in revenue as well as a resource crunch.Reply -
JMcEntegart lamorpaHow can things at the going on at the campus be non work related?Reply
I think he was referring to the Microsoft pub or mini-mall they're developing for employees. -
cletus_slackjawd Makes M$ look kinda stupid for hiring 3,000 employees that they apparently didn't need huh? Or, maybe they "let go" 3,000 employees, and then re-hire them back as part-time workers at lower wages and benefits. Capitalism rules.Reply