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Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

bloomberg.com

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Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#81

Post by Group_B »

wingspar wrote: post #79
stego-tech wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thinking about the middle class in the previous generation, it was unions that effectively ensured a labor job meant a secure future. I wonder if that's the solution (again). It is, and they are. It’s why Reagan fired ATC strikers and blackballed them. It’s why private enterprise stockpiled machine guns and chemical weapons against strikers back in the Gilded Age. It’s why companies will spend billions to block Uni…

Wasn’t the PATCO ATC strike illegal?

Yes, federal workers are not allowed to strike

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#82

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

pseudosavant wrote: post #36

Microsoft's most recent quarterly numbers, for those interested: - Revenue was $69.6 billion and increased 12% - Operating income was $31.7 billion and increased 17% (up 16% in constant currency) - Net income was $24.1 billion and increased 10% How can you justify needing layoffs when you made $24B in net income on $70B in revenue?? I guess $24B and a 10% YoY increase is almost failing?

That's not good enough for a P/E of 40....

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#83

Post by trod1234 »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #26
sitzkrieg wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

What nonsense. I've been in tech for ~ 20 years and it's literally taken me from living below the poverty line on ssi disability to fully financially independent. This is the one career where I could have accomplished that. It's basically 'disability proof'.

Past performance generally speaking does not indicate future prospects.

I agree with you, but that is only for right now.

7-10 years from now, I see no new tech jobs and the same work shouldered by a decreasing number of people until they vanish with no replacement.

Chaotic whipsaws from disruption or other things can break brittle systems. Resilient systems don't have these problems, but they are only resilient because of their decentralization and lack of single points of failure (SPOF).

Profit through money printing optimizes for SPOFs, and there are no existing incentives that can produce any other behavior. Its a terrible fate of societies which embrace money-printing.

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#84

Post by Group_B »

MangoToupe wrote: post #69
amendegree wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to hate on immigrants… but shouldn’t H1B’s be the first on the chopping block of layoffs? Hard to imagine all those H1Bs are so unique that others already employed can’t replace them.

You don't need to pay H1Bs as much. They're a bargain deal.

Yep, you need to get sponsored to work so we have thousands and thousands of workers trapped with low salaries. Nothing they can really do. It’s too risky trying to find another company to sponsor you because otherwise you get deported back

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#85

Post by butlike »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #40
atomicnumber3 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, if it were actually about "low performers", this wouldn't be in the news. They'd just be terminated during/before perf review.

Eh, it can take a lot of political willpower to actually get rid of a low performer. We had an infamous case where it took two years to finally kick some deadweight to the curb. Wanted multiple years of underperforming performance reviews, I guess. Despite what some may claim about market efficiency, this is a public, wildly profitable company, not government. Unfortunately, I have never seen a layoff only remove wea…

Think of it more as a "controlled burn wildfire," you want to clear land to let new foliage grow. Same with companies; you clear out some space and see what ideas flourish with the new crop

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#86

Post by anonymousab »

tjpnz wrote: post #27
seatac76 wrote: post #6

Xbox has really become a sore point in the MS portfolio. Their pivot to a marketplace model where their games run everywhere is an admission that they lost the race to Sony. Block buster acquisition like Activision further have exacerbated their conundrum. What Xbox is now can be done by a much smaller number of people.

>Their pivot to a marketplace model where their games run everywhere is an admission that they lost the race to Sony. Don Mattrick has a lot to answer for. Microsoft was killing it during the seventh generation and he was able to burn everything down over a period of two days. Xbox never recovered after that.

Don Mattrick isn't the reason that so many Microsoft studios have repeatedly shipped poor products or failed to ship at all over the past decade. Don Mattrick isn't the reason reason that Microsoft still seems to have the worst taste-testers in the industry. Don Mattrick isn't the reason that internal studios like 343 have messed up 18/6 requirements. Don Mattrick isn't the reason that Microsoft kept acquiring, messing up and then firing studios, ending with a massive acquisition that can't even pay itself off for over a decade. And above all, Don Mattrick isn't responsible for the relentless drive for a weird fusion of unprofitable subscription service and cloud streaming offerings at the cost of overall game sale profits.

Don Mattrick's mistakes were near-fatal, but Phil Spencer's done more than his equal share of torpedoing the Xbox division. The blame at this point can rest squarely on his shoulders.

Well, him, and the person who refuses to replace him.

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#87

Post by darth_avocado »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #77
darth_avocado wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you are hating on immigrants…

It's not quite that reductive. If the point of the program is A, and you think it's being used as B, it's fair to ask if the point of the program is really A or if it's actually B. Just pointing that out or asking the question does not mean you "hate immigrants". You might! But I don't think it's guaranteed.

> Hard to imagine all those H1Bs are so unique that others already employed can’t replace them.

I think the language speaks for itself

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#88

Post by wonderwonder »

trod1234 wrote: post #80
wonderwonder wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is they are laying off US workers and then importing Indian workers to replace them via 3rd party contractors. I saw a post on X today which essentially said "Ai will not replace your job, an Indian with Ai will replace your job" - this was posted by an Indian and he was completely right. Microsoft is actively laying off people with 150k salaries and replacing them with offshore workers earning a 10th of th…

That is one of the issues, yes. The main issue though is one of demographics. Like Japan, we have insufficient young people to do the jobs and produce what's needed to support the old. Worse, the old have utilized money printing and their privileged position to enrich themselves, and in the process it is tearing the country apart, and through economic manipulation force conscripting the young at suppressed wages to p…

While I agree with your overall point, I don't think the current issue with US jobs being outsourced is due to demographics. I think its simply one of cheaper wages. The fact that they are actively laying off US workers proves that there are existing US workers that can and have been doing the job. They are letting them go though so as to boost their bottom line to drive "shareholder value". This is an entirely self inflicted issue separate from the demographics issue that is affecting the west as a whole. We have more than enough qualified people willing to perform the tech jobs that the companies are outsourcing.

Re: Microsoft to Cut 9k Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs

#90

Post by Konnstann »

sokoloff wrote: post #67
toomuchtodo wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took us decades to get to this outcome (since the Reagan era), I assume it'll take decades to get out of it. Mental models are rigid, progress occurs one funeral time (Max Planck), ~2M people 55+ in the US age out every year (~5k per day), so the opportunity is with young folks who will or already are in the workforce, etc. It ain't happening overnight. Solutions such as "try harder," "be more lucky," or "just fin…

If someone wants to work in a union shop, they can choose a job that is unionized or try to unionize their current/next workplace. People who don’t want to work for a union shop should have the same amount of voice as people who do (1 vote per employee). I think unions have struggled to gain traction because it’s obvious that they cost money to run (which is fine and proper) but it’s not obvious that that expense pay…

When I first started my current job I was upset that I'd have to pay $20/paycheck to get some unknown level of benefits, which comes out to around $500/year but all I had to do to understand the benefit was compare my health insurance premium to someone working a non-union gig for the same employer and realize that they're paying a way higher percentage of the monthly premium than I was. Not to mention that the union provides guaranteed unemployment benefits if you get laid off and help finding jobs, transportation funds, childcare funds, and guaranteed me a salary increase this year when the employer has declared a freeze on raises for non-union positions. I agree there should be more advertising on the part of the union with regards to benefits but they are pretty obvious if you do any reading.

A lot of the benefits my union provides might not matter to the average HN user making $X00,000/yr though so who knows?

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