Microsoft layoffs january 2009

Good luck to everyone - my husband loved working there - said it's the smartest bunch of people he has ever been priviliged to work with. Sorry to break it to you, but effort is not the problem.

Doesn't matter how brilliant or diligent your developers are if upper management sets them up to fail. A GM in one group yesterday said that they were cutting "roles", that the decisions of which roles to cut were made fairly high up, and it didn't matter who was filling those roles. Super star? Didn't matter. If you're in a role that got cut, you're out. At least SharePoint is making money. Maybe that's just your grief talking, but seriously, come on.

I'm really sorry about your husband losing his job though. I hope he has luck with finding a new one. We should each feel responsible for the success of our product even though we can't decide what features we decide to go after. I acknowledge that that was a glib statement and nobody's saying that an entire product's developer staff is lazy - in fact I hope that the top developers from cut groups join my org :.

How did your theory work out yesterday? Shareholders didn't applaud it. That's just the beginning too, because without forward guidance there is no clear target for 09 EPS, therefore no good way to determine an appropriate current price. If it's so tremendous, efficient, and diversified, why did MS miss while three of those beat? Best comment yet. Yes, they could. Steve even seemed like he might at the beginning of yesterday's call. But by the end it was clear his first statements were scripted contrition and his real feeling is that everything is A OK as is.

The meaning isn't that you can do it by yourself, but that we all have to be accountable for the success of our organization. As a grunt you only have control over the stuff you do, I certainly cannot control investments on Zune, Xbox, and Online Services, or any other business that does not make much sense for Microsoft to be in. Default back to core competencies instead of having our hands all over the market. That refocusing can only come from the top. Unless my manager sits down in my office and says not to worry, the potential by itself will discourage me.

I'm also a top performer on a team that makes a ton of money. I do not feel safe. That number of people is fewer these days. I would now expect it to decrease further. If you're management, I would suggest talking to your stars and verifying with them their job safety.

If you cannot do that, I would expect some stars to shine less brightly. Some people are motivated by belief in the company more than money. That belief is shakier now. Probably not actually a good thing. I personally don't know anyone who is 'rich enough to retire' anyway. As for your situation, sorry to hear about your husband's layoff. It's never easy to go through, but the reality is you more often than not come out on the other side in a better situation.

Not much comfort when you are dealing with the initial shock and anger and grief of it, but I've been there more than once and experience has taught me that you will survive. And, eventually, you will thrive again. So, take a deep breath, let your husband vent his distress, anger, grief, etc. Chances are after this you will never be caught unprepared again. In my opinion, it's best to think of all jobs as temporary 'gigs' these days anyway.

If you let other people control your destiny, they will. Best of luck to you and your husband. In fact, as another poster pointed out, it may be that some of us rose too quickly, incited a bit of jealousy, etc. Who knows, really.

I'm moving on. I couldn't agree more as an outside shareholder. Why must they have their hands in everything? Do a few things, and do them well. You're right, a lot of other measures should have been exhausted first before resorting to layoffs. Anonymous said In keeping with this sentiment, he will not give a rat's ass about the next people he cuts, either. PLEASE don't pretend that the executives care about my family as we deal with the loss of a job that we thought would be the place where a difference could be made in the software universe.

Don't do the happy dance yourself just yet, over the fact that you and your best pals weren't cut - yet. Your reference to the Sword of Damocles seems out of place, being applied to the employees at large. The Sword must hang over the head's of those in power -- Partners, Exec's, most importantly of all, over Steve.

Operating expenses will increase in the second half from a year ago. We view [yesterday's] expense announcement as only Round 1. The damage is done that Microsoft never does layoffs.

Therefore in the future layoffs will not be a surprise anymore. It important to remember that no job is for life and it is up to you as a person to be responsible about your own future.

To those people that have been laid off, I feel sorry for you but in another breath you have a choice to make, either you going to consider yourself a victim or you going to step up and say okay I need to take charge and plot a new journey.

Really Microsoft is just catching up to how it happens in other organizations. So it is an end of a era for the old Microsoft and welcome to the new way things will be run Google is hiring Check this link, WinMo is hopeless. Think for a minute about the dynamic this sets up. Managers are incented to climb and take on big flashy things and rarely if ever punished for their failure.

Well, now the only talent they're going to be able to recruit for anything that MIGHT fail, are tenured employees actively seeking severance packages, who WANT it to fail. Welcome to the brave new world. You're going to see if consumers go for it? You're surprised that the kind of people who'd have phones that play music would be upgrading every months? The corporate culture a MSFT is horrible.

I've only been working here for six months and I've never wanted to leave a place so quickly. The caste system that has been implemented will cause this company to rot from the inside.

Managers do nothing but warm chairs in meetings and send out emails that nobody reads. Vendors are overworked and never given the time to complete tasks. They are also given jobs that should be in house you know vendors have access to ALL payroll information, they're the ones prcoessing it.

So I will be on the list of people who will be looking for a new job while milking the clock. Could it be So I'm one of the director level folks who's job was eliminated yesterday. The general reaction from my peers to the news has been What the fuck?

Looks like we know which PUM bends over and which drives. I am drawing a blank on their names. What Directors got laid off? Am I only the one who thinks Lisa B could have dressed up a bit. Cargo shorts and a sweatshirt? Was he not given 60 days to find a job?

Seriously, bankruptcy? I'm sad that your finances are such. We all make decisions And we all pay a price for our decisions. Surely you are just reeling from the shock - your DH will find work. You may have to move, but work is out there for talented people with a good skillset and proven track record. I disagree on most of your points. The K, the legal program, and even the transit does this! If people cannot give, Microsoft doesn't match charitable contributions.

If they do, thank GOD that Microsoft matches in such a bleak time as this. Charities need money now more than ever! To help people in dire financial situations - like those that cannot even afford a bag of rice! You are trying to justify why your husband should have been kept.

There is no reason to look back. It won't be easy but you will grow from this. I'm guessing your financial decision making will grow substantially since you mentioned selling cars, selling possessions, and possible bankruptcy And for those whose finances are "paycheck to paycheck", please take note and plan for the deep recession we are in!

Hoping you don't get laid off won't pay the basic bills if you do. The most telling point of the whole town hall meeting was when a woman in near-tears, listing off the kinds of people who'd been laid off, asked someone on that stage to just say "I'm sorry". Ballmer took a good 3 minutes to very pick his way around that to avoid saying he was sorry, instead saying he felt bad for people but not sorry he eliminated positions. Make of that what you will, good or bad.

And Lisa was as almost completely incoherent as she was inappropriately casual-dress for a somber discussion about the state of the company. I so hope my test ex-mgr got axed The HR person was a guy. Plus my ex mgr was part of the good ole boys club I got 3. I am proud that while there are a handful of people spewing anti-immigration rhetoric, there are more people condemning it. As a white lifelong US citizen, I am happy to welcome anybody from anywhere to my country.

As a previous poster said, if you don't like things, vote with your feet. Stop making life unpleasant for the rest of us. I think somebody is trying to intentionally derail this comments thread with anti-immigration trolling. Let's please ignore this and get back to the business of making MSFT a better place with grownup solutions, not hate speech.

Then, let us all name names of the nincompoops running the place who we think should go. It is time to stop being theoretical and to get specific. Microsoft does not provide numbers for its contract staff, but analyst Sid Parakh at McAdams Wright Ragen said he estimates the figure to be between 40, to 60, Microsoft said it will cut spending on contractors by up to 15 percent, on top of the full-time job cuts.

Microsoft was saying they need h1b because they can't find talent here. BS there is so much good talent graduating each year hire them. The downgrades and revisions are also coming in. Sadly this whole thing says as much about the state of the country as it does this industry.

The older technology companies that were hit, in-part, due to the successes of Wintel in the 90's, have also unfortunately set the legal presidence that now rules layoff practice. Positions, not people's talents or contributions have to be eliminated. Looking from the outside-in, I'm frankly surprised MS can get anything out the door at all. Which is the most telling point about what's wrong. Again, i really feel sorry for the folks that lost their jobs, and i am very concerned about mine However, it is not axiomatic that if one finds themselves in this situation, that the employer is the bad bad wolf.

You are missing the point, people complain because MSFT put itself on the position it is on right now, it has been in decline for a while look at the stock performance , even before there was an economic crisis. Even this blog was created before the crisis, and the complaints are the same: Ballmer has not done his job, and the company has not refocused. Please, most of the college graduates in the US don't know the most elementary things. If you're not from a top 20 school, your school most likely did NOT provide you with the skills MS and other higher end hirers are looking for.

And not even everyone from the top 20 schools is that great either. The people I know who are not worried about losing their jobs are the ones who are complacent and out of touch. This is not a meritocracy. It's the economy, stupid. If these layoffs had anything to do with making the company a leaner, more effective company then perhaps I'd agree with you.

But, no these layoffs are just an ill-conceived attempt at damage control for springing mediocre numbers on unsuspecting investors in a down economy. To the woman whose husband was laid off yesterday, I am so sorry. I hope you all move swiftly on to bigger and better things. My thoughts are with you. MS overreacted, afraid they'd miss the next big thing, and started funding far too many projects. They hired people for these projects, some of which are good and many of which are not.

Many people relocated themselves and families to the Northwest to work at the greatest software company in the world. So when layoffs occur and projects are closed down or decimated, it is the fault of the management for not prioritizing. MS should be smaller-- much of Microsoft should have not been hired.

MS Alum, It's not the lay offs that disturb me but how they picked people to be laid off. After seeing multiple references to "layed off", the Grammar Nazi in me could not be contained any longer: the past tense of layoff is laid off.

Do some research. It hasn't even reached the level of crisis in the 70s. Not saying it won't, but get some perspective. Stop spreading the media lie that's becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. Some of us maybe need to read a little history and come to understand what life was really like between the beginning of WWI and the end of WWII. Nothing even close to what we're experiencing today. Economies are cyclical. Boeing does layoffs massive ones every few years and then they have major hire backs.

I suspect that the whining and carrying-on that has been happening here is the result of incredibly naive sense of perspective. I wish the best to my colleagues that were let go. Most of these folks were good people and will find jobs elsewhere. And while I think the cuts were handled horribly, and maybe not made in all the right places, something needs to happen.

Microsoft has a lot of dead weight and that is what's crippling our ability to compete. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to specifically reach ex-msft employees? Most job boards are location specific, so most people in Redmond won't be looking in NY. I wouldn't post here unless it was permitted, out of respect for Mini, and because I'm not a spammer. I'm not a recruiter and I don't get any kickbacks for finding someone.

Just want to help people who are looking and work with competent coworkers. Mini The truth needs to be told. Can you please post a simple, quick poll with interactive chart on your blog for displaced workers to capture the facts? I feel bad for people with small children who get laid off. I pocket the difference between that and my under-six-figure salary.

After 5 years of doing this, I could happily go without working for the better part of a decade. I just created " Layoff Satisfaction Survey " with the goals of keeping employers like Microsoft more accountable for their actions, and providing an outlet for laid-off employees to tell the true stories behind layoffs and set the record straight.

Want to know how employers like MS avoid hiring qualified US citizens for jobs? Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in a Jan. He also wants to know what the breakdown will be when the layoffs are complete. For those of us here more than a few years we could have predicted to the letter how it was going to go.

Lisa B was full of incoherent BS, with her nervous twitch smile. I really cannot make out what the hell she was trying to say - it made no sense. To the people at the town hall who had the courage to stand up and ask questions you have my upmost respect.

To the lady asking for Ballmer to say sorry, you are extremely brave. I hope there are no recriminations for you. I admire your courage. If only the coward would have said sorry. He doesnt care about anything but himself and his ego. He can rely on me to NOT vote for him again at the next shareholder meeting. Ballmer couldnt wait to get out of the room. He purposely picked questions off the screen to calm the room as the questions on the microphones were getting a little tougher each time. If ever a CEO deserved to be shown the door, he does.

He has ruined this company. He is a shoe salesman, nothing more. Every time he opens his mouth the stock price drops. But worse than that he is not a leader, he couldnt point a toy ship in the right direction in his bath. If I remember correctly he stated that Apple wouldnt do well with the iPhone, it was too expensive, closed platform etc. Today he said Apple had done really well with the iPhone - what great vision on his part.

The one thing I heard which worried me more and more was his answer to the "what about the , how will they be selected". He babbled a bit and then mentioned the P word So now its pretty clear to me, the will be managed out via performance.

So let the games begin. I'm sure there are probably a lot who are there genuinely because they are not performing properly. For IW, next February. The end is nigh And where are our illustrious board? Are they really satisfied with Ballmer's performance? If so, they need to go too. Though not much has changed about my thoughts yet, I do see that 'loving feeling' fading away slowly.

Though don't fear much about losng my job, uncertainty in my job security in the 18 months will definitley affect me to give my best I think. I Hope we see some inspirational events in a near future. How does one learn to kiss ass? I don't really have it in me but it seems so effortless to others.

Do they realize they are doing it or is it just a personality trait? I didn't lose my job, but I'm severely disappointed. Things weren't so bad that Ballmer had to destroy families. Slow on hiring and wait for attrition. If they were good enough to hire in the first place you don't put them out in the street, especially in this economy.

If profit dropped a few percent in the beginning Bill wouldn't have put Marla Wood out in the street. Apparently we're just another commodity for Steve to game now. It's time for me to find a small start up while I'm still somewhat young. Some of us could use the leads.

There's a range here. At one, is total butt-kisser. At the other end is "I do great work, so of course people around should notice, right? Too much and, yes you get to be an ass-kisser, but too little and you really aren't doing yourself any favors, either. I hate to say it's "typical engineer" Becuase I'm an engineer , but there's this belief among engineering-types that all that has to be done is make a product with superior features and it will win.

Marketing letting people know about the product is also important. Can you say "NEXT computer? We are not going to see anything like the Great Depression. There is far more wealth and far greater skills today among the US population than in However, the government is responding as if it is a Depression, using every tool in the rule book written in the s and later for responding to a Depression.

That may account for why people feel like it is a Depression: Actions speak louder than words and the actions are geared towards responding to Depression economics not a recession. Prior to the Great Depression, all down turns were labeled "depressions".

The term "recession" was invented after the s to provide a gentler term than Depression for economic downturns that occurred since then. By many common definitions we will know in a few months if we are in a horrible recession or a real depression - featuring deflation or hyperinflation.

Whether government debt fueled spending will fill that hole is not yet clear. In the mean time, it does not matter what we call it. It has caused pain for a great many people. And is likely to get worse over the next 2 quarters before - hopefully - reaching bottom and beginning a very slow recovery. A small bit of good news: John Lervik has resigned. He was CEO of FAST when it was acquired by Microsoft, and while the technology is good, the continuing investigation by the Norwegian authorities over financial irregularities read: fraud has definitely been an annoyance.

On the 'kiss ass' front, I learned at MS to pick who I worked for first over what the job entailed. I always looked for managers who fit my style and who would appreciate my work and needs, stood up to peers and upper management important at stack rank meetings , and who were favored by execs. With that model, I did very well and never felt like I was compromising my own objectivity by having to be a yes-man.

Some additional grossly oversimplified survival tips: - Devs should work for folks who are or were devs that can evaluate the scope of your contributions from a technical perspective - Fathers and Mothers should work for managers who are parents themselves and understand having to take care of sick child or leave to go pick a child up from school - and so on It's fine to sow your creative oats in say Zune, but right now, that's not an org I'd want to be in.

Not enough people listen You don't have to agree There are other more subtle ways of having your views prevail see above regarding a management chain who has your back. So I'm not talking brown-nosing, but I am talking about working the system. I thought somebody was moderating the posts here. Why do we still have all this crap about immigrants being asked to not give birth? The attempts to "tell the truth" or "adjust the status quo" with information are unlikely to go anywhere.

Microsoft's severance agreements have teeth. Anyone who has signed one or is considering signing one, needs to talk to an outside lawyer, not being paid for by MS. If you haven't been handed one yet - you have 21 days to take that thing out of the office, discuss it with your lawyer, and decide if you're really willing to live with it or not.

But our position is at risk. There are many reasons for this but two stand out. First, U. Remarkably, Microsoft appears to have laid off about 35, of these allegedly rare, difficult to find STEM workers since , with even more planned layoffs announced a few weeks ago. In January , Microsoft announced planned layoffs of 5, employees, about five 5 percent of its workforce over the next eighteen months. In July , Microsoft announced layoffs of 18, employees.

Most of these employees, reportedly about 12,, were part of the Nokia mobile phone division, many in Finland. In Finland students were ranked sixth 6th worldwide in math and science compared to the United States twenty-eighth 28th.

Adelson, Warren E. We believe it borders on insanity to train intelligent and motivated people in our universities — often subsidizing their education — and then to deport them when they graduate. It would remove the worldwide cap on the number of visas that could be awarded to legal immigrants who had earned a graduate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States, provided they had an offer of employment.

The bill also included a sensible plan that would have allowed illegal residents to obtain citizenship, though only after they had earned the right to do so. In July , Microsoft announced layoffs of 7, employees, also mostly related to Nokia.

In May , Microsoft announced layoffs of about 2, employees, including about from Nokia. That's almost 17 percent of Microsoft's total work force, not exactly a small number. So far, we haven't managed to confirm what departments or regions will be hit the worst, but we're hearing that MSN might be carrying the brunt of the layoffs.

Both sites claim that Microsoft recently warned its employees of the upcoming date. Nevertheless, this is staying in the rumor box until Microsoft speaks to the public about it. The recession is being used as an excuse by many companies to do some cleaning, though Microsoft is not typically a company that has mass layoffs, given its high profit margin. The last Microsoft rumor reported by Fudzilla turned out only somewhat true: the company did not launch retail stores, but they expanded the Microsoft Store to the US.

I would not be surprised if there were layoffs coming on January 15, but I can't see them being as huge as 17 percent.