Microsoft Rumored To Lay Off Thousands Worldwide

nandemoari writes "It seems not even Microsoft is impervious to the effects of this increasingly painful recession. According to reports, the Redmond-based company is preparing to lay off about 17 per cent of its entire workforce in the coming months. Despite its portfolio diversity — including operating systems, antivirus software, and video game consoles — Microsoft is clearly feeling the pressure applied by a tightening global economy. In fact, there seems to be a sense of emergency to the massive cuts (about 15,000 workers out of 90,000), which rumors suggest should be made official by January 15."

Comments

Re:Why?

[Jason Levine]

I have to ask...why? I thought Microsoft was massively profitable, even today. Surely they don't have to fire all these people to prevent losses?

The price of office chairs has been rising. They need to cut somewhere to cover the expense of replacing them.

Re:You mean

[WindBourne]

Performance has ALWAYS been subjective. Lots of ppl bring money to a company, and yet are killed because it was not "documented". In addition, ppl are judge to be worthless based on politics, or even direction for where heading.
MS is simply, an average company with below average tech, but with a monopoly.

Re:Why?

[mikael]

Many company directors seem to think the solution to any problem is to throw more chairs (or bodies) at that problem. The side effect of the hiring etra staff is to actually slow down communication or to actually increase the rate that bugs are created.

How it will !work

[Skiron]

year = 2009;

        while (days > 365)
        {
                if (IsLeapYear(year))
                {
                        if (days > 366)
                        {
                                days -= 366;
                                year += 1;
                                layoff -= 100
                        }
                }
                else
                {
                        days -= 365;
                        year += 1;
                        layoff -= 100
                }
        }

*close down*

Re:Why?

[mattwarden]

Hating capitalism because its participants goal is to make more money is utterly stupid. When your company makes more money, it is better for you. Is it a dollar-for-dollar increase? No. Is it a better ratio than any other system? Yes.

Re:Why?

[syousef]

Ballmer should be nervous.

Well if you keep Balmer, you have to factor in the cost of bolting down every chair in the place.