Microsoft CEO To Slash 18,000 Jobs, 12,500 From Nokia To Go

DW100 (2227906) writes "Satya Nadella has taken an axe to Microsoft's 127,000-strong workforce by announcing a whopping 18,000 job cuts, including 12,500 from the recently integrated Nokia division. At least 13,000 jobs will go within the next six months." It's official, Ballmer's layoff record has been smashed. From the email sent to employees: "The first step to building the right organization for our ambitions is to realign our workforce. With this in mind, we will begin to reduce the size of our overall workforce by up to 18,000 jobs in the next year. Of that total, our work toward synergies and strategic alignment on Nokia Devices and Services is expected to account for about 12,500 jobs, comprising both professional and factory workers. We are moving now to start reducing the first 13,000 positions, and the vast majority of employees whose jobs will be eliminated will be notified over the next six months."

Comments

I really really hate

[bravecanadian]

CEO-speak.. "building the right organization" "work towards synergies and strategic alignment" gobbledygoop

I'm all for cutting out bureaucracy where it isn't needed but come on man..

Dilbert words: Can anything be as demoralizing?

[Squidlips]

Words like "synergies and strategic alignment" and right sizing are right out of the Dilbert Mission Statement generator (which used to be on the Dilbert web site). Nothing can be as demoralizing as being managed by exec's so stupid that they have never read Dilbert.

Re:Dilbert words: Can anything be as demoralizing?

[gstoddart]

Nothing can be as demoralizing as being managed by exec's so stupid that they have never read Dilbert.

The problem in real life, as it is in Dilbert, is the things we cringe at are the things the executives think "now there's a damned fine idea".

There's a huge disconnect between how management people respond to those things versus what the rest of us do.

Unfortunately, they're the ones calling the shots -- and what we see as parody and satire, they see as an instruction manual.

I don't believe I've ever worked at a company where the management team didn't (on a semi regular basis) take a page straight out of the Dilbert playbook and begin to implement it.

It's like we experience an entirely different reality.

Re:Dilbert words: Can anything be as demoralizing?

[Sir_Eptishous]

Most CEO's and Executive Level types are sociopaths.

Burning platforms

[stoploss]

I guess Nokia's platform really was burning after all. It's just that it was arson.

Re:I guess they won't need any more foreign Visas?

[JaredOfEuropa]

"In order to ensure continued access to scarce skillsets that are key to our ability to innovate, we need to be able to draw flexibly from a global pool of professionals."

(Oh, and we also resent having to pay those scarce and valuable individuals more than $15 / hour. So we'll still need some foreign worker visas, thanks).

IBM

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what IBM does: lays off thousands here in the USA and just hires overseas.

And they still charge an obscene amount for their products and services.

It's all about cost arbitrage now: really cheap technical labor overseas and charge like you have 100% American or Western European labor.

Our country and economy is being bled dry by the multinationals.

While we are distracted by cheaper big screen TV and other electronic toys, the things that really matter are becoming more expensive while our pay is declining - and it's not just inflation. I see jobs here in Metro Atl that are paying $60K+ that once paid $80K+ back in the late 90s. If you include inflation, that's a hell of a pay cut.

But in the meantime, fuel, medical, education, food, housing (rents are going back up) and essentials to living are going up.

We are in a spiral to the bottom because multinational companies are importing poverty from the Third World.

Solution? I stopped buying shit. It helps that retailers are becoming more and more obnoxious. No more rip-off cable or other services like that. Smart phone? Shove it.

Food? I cook and it's all unprocessed - no packaged shit with shit additives.

Car? 20 years old and counting. And I do the maintenance: clutch, head gasket, brakes, you names it. Sorry for the local mechanic, but that's the new reality of our country.

Re:IBM

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing to do with IBM. The oligarchs have seized power over the last 20 years and now the screw is being turned. The more they turn, the more scared you become. All around the world, policy is dictated by the corporations and they're invariably directly working against the population.

Re:Nokia sure has bad luck

[Exitar]

Nokia can only blame itself for letting Elop become their CEO years ago.

Stephen Elop

[Anonymous Coward]

It's amazing that this guy can run the company into the ground and still have a job. How badly do you have to screw up to get fired as a CEO?

Re:I guess they won't need any more foreign Visas?

[Entropius]

They continually invent new and creative kinds of suck.

Don't ask; I'm not telling ...

[CaptainDork]

Yeah, my company escorted me out the gate because I was a network jockey and they didn't want me to sabotage the system.

Two days later they're calling me with, "How do we ...," and "What's the passwords for ...," and "Where are the ..."

I offered to respond by email:

"The Firm has made the decision to "right-size" its IT department to better align with strategies going forward. In support of that decision, I know the Firm has retained the very best-of-breed systems analysts and I think we should rely on those superior personnel to figure out what knowledge I departed with. I know you will agree that Firm policy prohibits sensitive communication with non-employees and it is with a spirit of cooperation that I decline to ever speak to any of you ever again."