Nothing like rumors of corporate layoffs to throw 89,000 Microsoft employees into unproductive turmoil. This time the rumors are being mongered by the
Wall Street Journal and
TechFlash, both of whom have been told to expect "far smaller" cuts than the
5,000 heads lost during the global financial downturn. And while it's easy to come to the conclusion that this round of layoffs is the result of the
Kin debacle, keep in mind that Microsoft is entering a new fiscal year -- the perfect time (from a budgetary perspective) to trim down and
refocus on new strategies. Still, if this does affect the Kin team, then let's just hope that the skilled engineers toiling inside the project's pink trenches are spared when the reductions begin as soon as today, according to
TechFlash. While
J Allard may be gone, one executive alone doesn't create a culture and governance model that builds multi-million dollar
silos of duplication and then turns a blind eye to
inter-team stonewalling. We say
aim high when it comes time to swing that axe Microsoft.
Update: TechFlash is now reporting that, yes, Redmond
has wielded its handled blade. At this point it's suggested to run only in the hundreds across the globe, and "the low hundreds in the Seattle region," across several groups. Sounds indeed more like a pruning of its over 88,000-strong workforce and less like Kin fallout.
posted July 7th 2010 6:40PM
Giving a new meaning to the term "To cut your losses"?
I hope Microsoft can weather this
@AlienSix "I hope Microsoft can weather this"
Why? If an organization of that magnitude can't keep up with the trends then they need to GTFO of the business. Stupid decisions like Vista, WinMo 6, canceling Courier, canceling Kin, employing Steve Ballmer all lead to events like this.
What's the worst that could happen? 80-90% of the computing world has to switch to Linux? It's not such a bad thing as software developers would jump on supporting the switch. No more vendor lock-in and almost everyone would move to standards compliant browsers, open standard media formats, OpenGL based 3D software, open standard filesystems, cheaper computers due to no Windows license.
I see no downside to Microsoft dying a horrible death to be perfectly honest with you.
@TinWard Companies with no debt and mountains of cash don't die that easily...
Tin, I see no downside to downvoting you.
@TinWard
Keeping up with the trend in consumer electronics isn't something that Microsoft is used to. But don't get ahead of yourself - a large amount of sales are from VLKs to the corporate market.
Vista/WinMo6 were bad decisions, yes, Vista was too rushedand WinMo is just.. WinMo.
Ballmer has been in MS since the start, that point is moot. Kin was problably binned because of the obvious lack of consumer base study. Courier, though nice, didn't really look feasible.
What's the worse thing that could happen? More security woes on *nix systems. More discovered vulnerabilities, more malware exploiting these, even.
Don't get me started with the shitstacks that are xorg/alsa..
@TinWard And the idiot of the year award goes to TinWard! Enjoy your award Ward. Clearly you have some sort of mental disorder that blocks your ability to construct a response that has the slightest glimmer of insight and understanding.
@TinWard You seem to be pretty content with 80k losing their jobs so that Linux can get super popular.
@weabooman
How far away are you from the *nix world?
All of *nix'es have a lot of security holes discovered and patched constantly. It's just the target of attacks against *nix systems is different than Windows. *nix'es are targeted to penetrate and steal data. And there is a lot of attacks and successful attacks happening. Though Windows definitely takes the crown for the botnet creation....
@TinWard
Are you serious? The entire world is incredibly dependent on Microsoft software. That's what all those monopoly accusations are about.
I'd be surprised if we saw the back of Microsoft within any of our lifetimes. I sure hope not anyway - I'm a .NET developer. :O
@jalexoid Why do people target unix or linux systems then? I doubt the same malware distributors and developers who target windows for identity theft would want to get thier hands on a unix or linux database server with credit, banking or social security info.
@TinWard
Ahh I always love it when the little 14 year olds come here and try to sound like adults. Not realizing that they stick out like an HP at WWDC.
@AlienSix "Kin team...skilled engineers"? hahaha, sales don't seem to back your fanboyism up there engadget.
@Kid Red
Seems you didn't read the articles on Kin's downfall. I think they are hinting at Lees deserving the axe. The devices failures were not due to being built poorly.
@jalexoid
Unix has "burglaries". Windows has viral epidemics.
It's a world of difference.
There's the occasional dodgey Unix app that causes problems similar to what happens with Windows boxes. These are usually "3rd party" apps that aren't run by default on common systems.
So the effect is considerably different.
Core Unix is much less problematic than Core Windows.
Although just avoiding as much Microsoft stuff as you can even while still running Windows really helps a lot. The same was even true when the problem was "stability" instead of "viruses".
@AlienSix
Fi, fi, fo, fum. I smell the blood of a Microsoft bum. Just kidding. This is no time for anyone to be laid off with the economy as bad as it is. It's nothing to laugh about. No one will love this more than Wall Street. Guaranteed that Microsoft's share price will rise on this announcement. Personnel cuts means less overhead due to not having to cover things like health insurance. Hopefully, these laid-off employees will get some sort of compensation package.
@TinWard I agree with your sentiments :D ..
They may employ 89,000 globally, but if Microsoft were to disappear tomorrow I can only see good things coming out.. Those 90,000 odd could be employed by RedHat, Apple, Google, Oracle, Citrix, IBM and other major firms that would happily step in and do a much better job of building operating systems and office productivity systems, which is frankly all that Microsoft makes money from.
Can you imagine a world where you don't get paid shills spreading FUD against all of Microsoft's competitors ? A world were open standards are embraced and built on for the betterment of the IT systems and for everyone.. A world were we don't have to deal with complete rubbish shitty operating systems.. Server environments were a GUI is not forced , talk about wasting resources (can you get any more stupid than forcing a GUI on a web server)
An environment were Linux is not attacked by proxy from companies such as SCO who were bankrolled by MS.. An environment were genuine innovation is embraced rather than being snuffed out by a monopoly scared of its own shadow..
It would be IT paradise, but as Sibbby mentioned Microsoft is floating on a sea of cash .. Frankly lets face it Ballmer and Gates can easily afford to build a massive tower like scrooge mcduck and swim in their money ... ;)
@AlienSix Microsoft will be fine. Windows 7 sales are tremendous and ever-growing, they finally started making money on their xbox 360s last year, and WP7 should be a great phone OS for power users and businessmen alike. It is really hard to kill a company that is running the world (MS run the frikkin stock markets in like 5 countries!!!)
@AlienSix *snickers* Do you have any idea how much money MS has in reserve? That make more then some mid-sized countries. Microsoft isn't going anywhere, contrary to the i Tards out there. To be blunt, MS would have to loose money for another 10 years to really start getting hit hard.
@TinWard You know even though the stock market isn't jumping for MS stock they do make three times the profit of Apple.
Hardly dying !
@MosesusedaniPad Microsoft's share price doesn't rise on any announcement. Record profits, beating investor expectations, successful product launches, increased efficiency ... it doesn't matter.
Wall Street just oscillates MSFT between 25 and 30 so institutional investors can make a few tens of millions of dollars at a time. It's been that way for years. The last time Wall Street rewarded MSFT with high stock value was when MS was notorious for their anti-competitive behavior back in the 1990s. That too, was a long time ago.
@McDuckScrooged Wait.... did you just call Apple as one of the open standard? I feel some stupidity in the force
@AlienSix Thousands of good Americans work for Microsoft. They have kids and families to support sometimes alone.
It is sad to read some of the comments here.
What has the KIN got to do with cutting jobs? what is hating Microsoft products go to do with cutting jobs? Hate Microsoft products all you want but to wish Americans lose there jobs? That makes me SICK! Shame on you...
@Engadget, either your just trying to plug your Kin articles that cease to let the Kin die and/or you're patronizing your readers.
Microsoft has an abundance of cash, if the Kin were to sell then maybe they'd need a Kin team (so small that the WSJ wouldn't cover the layoffs/hires regardless), but the loss of money on the Kin is meaningless as far as employees go, so if anyone thinks that this is because of the Kin you know next to nothing about business and money.
@juanvaldez At least Engadget knows the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE.
@juanvaldez Sorry for the 80k+ people about to be unemployed in this economy.
@Khris Fair enough, only if Meatloaf said 1 out of 2 ain't bad or if I used one more "you're" to show my real ignorance or real mastery of a contraction that with a care to proof read an Engadget comment I *might* catch.
@juanvaldez proofread, ooo, minus another 1 for me even though caught that one...god (I mean, God) do I hate Engadget grammar police.
@tai376
It isn't 80k ppl who Microsoft will layoff. That number is their total work force. They will be laying off less that 5k. it's just those 80k ppl don't know who is going to be the 5k to be let go.
@Khris And yet you were able to read his comment just fine. So what does that make you? Other then a winy bitch of course.
@juanvaldez OMG, KIN AGAIN! Engadget, as much as MS plays to win, they don't care about losing 250M dollars, your thinking on the matter is just such a freaking joke! They are always looking to profit maximize and their rest of their portfolio besides the Kin is set in stone meaning that since they aren't strapped for cash the loss of money on the Kin is irrelevant to their style going forward.
I like Nilay, and actually wouldn't replace him with probably any other editor you have. But, really, really, it's more important to have someone with some business sense on the payroll than a lawyer (both make nearly perfect sense, and again, not saying Nilay should go anywhere, just that with your Seattle hire, try to find someone who knows something about business AND can write.)
/rant over
Hopefull Brandon Watsons is for the chop too. Very poor interview with WMPoweruser.
http://wmpoweruser.com/your-windows-phone-7-questioned-answered/
@bodeNGE I skimmed this, I have always been of the opinion that their initial announcement of this OS was spectacular, then as the questions started to roll-in I've been facepalming nearly non-stop. I want to see them bring in a lot of top-notch features and developers, but I am skeptical thus far and hope that even if they do poorly (I doubt it, tthey are a big brand and they'll market it well along with having great hardware partners doing likewise) or just average their competitors will be able to learn and incorporate their innovations and strengths.
Seems like everything Microsoft does, this site has to mention Kin in some way.
Kin is dead, who cares? Only Engadget.
Do we seriously think 89,000 employees are involved in Kin?
Engadg
@redtalon That's what I'm saying. But, they have a hyperlink back to old stories quota to meet in all the top company and product release stories that they push. It'd be like Amazon not telling you what other customers bought. Still, in this case, I definitely find it a bit sad that it gets mentioned for reasons I've already stated and feel they could make a more appropriate target. Perhaps they've change their expectations for WP7 or W8 due to increased competition? Perhaps this definitely has nothing to do with the Kin? I speculate, but feel both are much more likely, hell, I'd probably bet my life on it if given a good enough price by anyone but the Devil (he knows and controls too much /s).
@redtalon You're completely right!
@juanvaldez I don't like the amazon suggests analogy here; amazon suggestions are usually relevant, unlike the Kin links in this article.
@Ellianth Criticism accepted. I was mostly using a "if you click it, they are able to monetize." since engadget sells ads and amazon sells products...yes, Amazons are relevant, but Engadget is still just serving their business model the way Amazon is doing so.
@redtalon
Please. The fact that MS let that thing happen, and dumped 250 million, and, oh yeah, 500 million to buy Danger...should be alarming to anyone, and that comes down to Ballmer. He signed the cheques.
@juanvaldez I knew what you meant, I was just making fun of engadget :p.
@redtalon
Not 89,000, but maybe several hundred,
you know..
the amount of people being laid off.
Microsoft react to change now, they dont create it anymore,.
Microsofts first and last inovation was the GUI, and that was back on the 3.11 workgroups of the 90's, nothings changed since 95..
Seriously nothing, apart from a few new media types has changed since 95.
You cant just keep realasing GUI's with stupid names and call them an OS.
I miss DOS 6.22....
And the difference between vista, 7, and 8 is just how much private data it can harvest from you.
@RSebire You don't actually think they created the GUI right, so if you are giving them credit for copying that interface, then you should be willing to give them credit for more. Besides, to be a success in business you just have to be more efficient, better marketers or something else, you don't necessarily need to create (though I disagree with your premise that they haven't innovated in/outside of Windows).
@RSebire Well, apparently you don't know much behind the core frameworks of Windows. Obviously Windows Presentation Foundation won't impress you, but what about Silverlight, Windows Communication Foundation, .NET Framework, Location and Sensor Framework, the NT kernel, and all of the other tons of frameworks that are built into Vista/7. Go die in a hole if you still think Windows is just a GUI on top of DOS. DOS died with the advent of the NT kernel. The NT kernel brought true multitasking, not just processor time-slicing. I'll admit that Vista was a rushed failure, but you can't seriously say that 7 is shit.
Impossible Obama said the economy was taking OFFFFFFFFFFF like a rocket.
@nastro
It's ok, MS can still suck in any decade
@nastro
yep, all the durty libruls fault.
Bottom line question for me is what is the percentage of management vs engineers. Many of the problems being faced are problems of poor management.
how do you fire so many people in one go???
@Interwebs From WSJ, "Microsoft Corp. is planning to lay off a small number of employees as early as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter."
Basically this and other reports are saying don't expect more than maybe 1-3K layoffs, if that many.
@Interwebs Global email quite literally.