“Microsoft is laying off another 800 people, adding to the 5,000 the company has already let go this year,” Nancy Gohring reports for IDG News Service.
“The layoffs are part of the plan that Microsoft announced in January to let go of 5,000 people, although Wednesday’s action adds to that original number,” Gohring reports. “‘In the ensuing 11 months from January until now, we realized we had to move a little beyond the 5,000, so that put us at about 5,800,’ said Lou Gellos, a spokesman for Microsoft.”
Gohring reports, “The most recent cuts follow an earnings report that included a 14 percent drop in revenue.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Scarbro” for the heads up.]
I don’t think Apple are laying off any people at the moment. In fact they just announced the part time staff will be able to get health care coverage. If they needed to cut costs then they would not be doing that.
There was one group that was being laid off a while back but I think it was for strategic reasons rather than economic.
It is interesting that M$ are laying off even though their profit margin is still huge. Still their biggest problem is that they are big, slow and mired in awkward procedures that they can’t develop to save their lives. They need to change their mindset and I doubt that that will happen with layoffs.
M$ are still in a good position. They have several monopolies, can still gouge their corporate customers and can survive for another 5-10 years by just sitting on their collective asses.
Ballmer is simply raking in the cash knowing full well that the end is nigh but probably doesn’t really care because he’s made his fortune and can retire whenever he wants.
Why MS? You have so much money from your automatic revenue generating cash cows. Maybe you should not have blown your wad on your COPY CAT stores and used the money to keep those employees.
…”Ballmer (…) doesn’t really care because he’s made his fortune and can retire whenever he wants.
He specifically stated that he won’t retire until last of his kids is in college. In other words, since he’s already pretty much stuck in Seattle for now, he may as well run MS into the ground. Once the kids are outta there, he’s outta there as well!
Die in Hell, Microsoft.
800 more got closer to a better life
“Let’s ask Steve Jobs how many employees did your little company has layoff this year?”
That’s easy.
none.
I just don’t get Microsoft…
Let’s be like Apple and open retail stores, release new software, make big advertising campaigns, YEAH! Oh shoot, we’ll have to cut into our lovely profits to pay our workers now, what do we do?? Oh yeah, let’s fire them. We’ll just put more responsibilities on fewer people. Employees love that kind of thing. We’ll say they were ‘promoted’ and pay them the same, no actually less.
Meanwhile at Apple…
Hey Steve, great year we didn’t have to lay off anybody, in fact we hired a bunch of people! How about we just keep everything nominal, keep funding R&D;and let’s make our employees happier with health benefits. Hey, you don’t suppose we could get rid of those Microsoft EasyPay devices and replace them with our own Touches, do ya?
You wanna know why nobody writes viruses for Mac? Think about it.
@ Sean
Great job for Apple giving full benefits to part time workers!
“has Apple laid off any workers in the past year or so?”
I believe in March they laid off 50 people in their Enterprise Sales Department.
And in May of 2008, 174 *positions* at their Elk Grove facility in Sacramento, but those employees had the option of relocating to Austin, TX or finding a new position at Elk Grove. The positions were sales and support.
as photocopiers improve less people are needed to operate them therefore Microsoft needs less employes
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I have great sympathy for these employees. Yes it’s Microsoft but these people are the one paying for Ballmer’s incompetance and that’s not right. I’ve been there twice and still going through it. Good luck to them in their future and may this damn employment recession just end.
Apple has not in the last year laid off anyone. the people Doggone is thinking of is the non existent folks from drop in FTEs post holiday which was not a layoff. that drop in numbers was done to the retail holiday staff that was hired as temps, knowing they were temps, who were done. probably a lot of college kids and such. that’s all.
Actually I think Michael is right about the layoffs. Again that was strategic and not as a cost cutting move.
M$ layoffs are for cost cutting reasons and because they lack any idea how to innovate their way out of trouble.