Microsoft To Lay Off 700 Employees Next Week, Report Says (geekwire.com) 168
According to a report by Business Insider (Warning: may be paywalled), Microsoft will cut about 700 jobs in conjunction with its quarterly earnings release next week. GeekWire reports: The latest layoffs are part of the company's previously announced plan to cut about 2,850 roles globally during its current fiscal year, according to the Business Insider report. The company declined to comment this afternoon, but we understand the report to be accurate, based on our own sources. Next week's cuts will be spread across a variety of job functions inside the company. The company's previous job cuts have come in areas including its smartphone business and global sales team. Microsoft announced its largest cuts in July 2014, eliminating 18,000 jobs, or 14 percent of the company at the time.
Windows 10 downgrade (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Windows 10 downgrade (Score:4, Insightful)
Nah - every time they boot employees the stock goes up - it's been that way in corporate America for a couple of decades now. Maybe they should bring back Balmer so they can fire him again and send it TO TEH MOONZ!"
After all, employees are now seen as a cost center, not an asset. "You will continue to be beaten until morale improves" was supposed to be satire.
Nokia Employees (Score:2)
It seems there still were some former Nokia employees left after all :)
Now it's time to end this strange story.
The death spiral is continuing. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's the way of big companies. The same thing happened in IBM and Nokia. The management gets bonuses based on short term goals. They start to cut the long term investment. They fail to do the research needed to deliver good products their customers need. They start to cheat their customers. After some years the business sufffers from loss of revenue. Only by cutting costs can they keep the profits. The management gets bonuses based on short term goals.
Quite early in the cycle you start filtering out so that the best people who can leave do leave and the worst people who can't leave but don't mind sacrificing their friends fight their way to the top. Microsoft ceased being critical years ago. It ceased being important recently. Soon it will cease being relevant. Speaking as a veteran of such a spiral (which is why I have to post anon), if you are good and you are working there get out now whilst having Microsoft on your CV still won't block your possibility to work elsewhere.
Re:The death spiral is continuing. (Score:5, Informative)
This is some seriously delusional thinking. Microsoft not critical or relevant? What are you smoking?
First off, IBM is still here if you haven't noticed. They got out of PCs, but they still do lots of other stuff and are a huge and profitable company.
But back to MS: they absolutely are critical and relevant, because everyone's PC runs on their software. That isn't going to change, probably ever. If Windows 10 couldn't convince people to dump them, nothing will. They might not have gotten anywhere in mobile devices, but that doesn't matter because they still have their Windows and Office cash cows, and those aren't going anywhere, and there's no threats to them (do you see businesses switching all their workstations to OSX or Linux? Nope).
MS is doing the right thing: cut employees, and cut all long-term investment, and just keep slapping some new lipstick on the Windows and Office pigs. Corporations in particular will happily continue to pay through the nose for MS's enterprise products, and consumers are happy to use Windows 10 with its built-in spyware and advertising which MS makes money from indirectly. MS doesn't need to invest long-term, they just need to keep milking their cash cows. They can do this indefinitely, because the whole Windows 10 experience has proven, without a doubt, that customers simply will not leave that platform no matter what, and no matter how much it costs them.
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In a thirty years, there will probably be Windows installs of companies that were never able to move off and are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars per month to keep some critical application running in exactly the same way it ran in 2025
Most of those companies will have died long before then.
Re: The death spiral is continuing. (Score:4, Interesting)
But little that could be seen to change the computing market.
Why should I care what IBM does? If they need my interest, what can they do to capture it?
What makes you think they care about changing the computing market, or your interest? You seem to think that the role of companies is to change or improve the world. It isn't. The only reason companies exist is to make money. If IBM is doing that, then it's successful in its mission.
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What makes you think they care about changing the computing market, or your interest? You seem to think that the role of companies is to change or improve the world. It isn't. The only reason companies exist is to make money. If IBM is doing that, then it's successful in its mission.
What you say is true.
But the genius of the free market is that in order for IBM to make money they must offer value that someone else wants and will trade for (buy it with money).
So, almost by definition, if IBM or any other company is making money they're also making the world a better place one computer or pot or pan or refrigerator or jet airplane at a time.
Of course there's more to "a better place" than just material goods and wealth. But those aren't issues that the free market system can address b
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So, almost by definition, if IBM or any other company is making money they're also making the world a better place one computer or pot or pan or refrigerator or jet airplane at a time.
That's demonstrably untrue. There's entire industries that actually make the world a worse place, while making money doing so. Telemarketing is one good example here, payday loan stores are another (plus actual loan sharks), Nigerian scammers are another, and patent trolls are yet another. I'd also argue that there's many o
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But back to MS: they absolutely are critical and relevant, because everyone's PC runs on their software. .
Seriously, when you use hyperbole and straight-out lie, I stop listening. There are a lot of PCs that don't run on Windows. Millions run Mac OS, Various Linux distros, and Chrome Os is making a huge dent in the educational market. Windows and MS Office isn't as important and prevalent as they used to be. They are a hugely important company, but they are not as influential on the PC market as they used to be.
Re: The death spiral is continuing. (Score:2)
What percentage of PCs don't run Windows?
Probably less than 10% don't use Windows. (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, if we can trust Slashdot's recent reporting then about 6% run OS X or macOS [slashdot.org], and a measly 2% run Linux [slashdot.org]. Of course, they're both totally irrelevant compared to Windows 10 with 24%, Windows 7 with 48%, Windows 8.1 with 7%, and Windows XP with 9% [slashdot.org].
So probably less than 10% of PCs don't run Windows, which obviously means about 90% or more do.
I don't know where the hell this ClaraBow is coming from, and why that awful comment got modded up. It's not "hyperbole" or a "straight-out lie" to say that nearly every PC uses Windows, when it turns out that 90% or more do.
Speaking of hyperbole, the only hyperbole I see are statements like "There are a lot of PCs that don't run on Windows.", and "Chrome Os is making a huge dent", and "MS Office isn't as important and prevalent as they used to be.", and "they [Microsoft] are not as influential on the PC market as they used to be.".
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Hyperbole is saying "everyone's PC", whereas you tweaked that to say "nearly every PC". The original unedited statement stands as hyperbole.
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What proportion of internet users use a PC to begin with?
Hint: http://marketingland.com/digit... [marketingland.com]
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What percentage of PCs don't run Windows?
Where I work, one of the "big 5" tech companies, about 5% do run Windows. That's a higher percent then you'll find at Google or (obviously) Apple. Windows is vanishing from tech companies. That's a good sign that in a generation it will be vanishing everywhere else.
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Counting only those PCs used for web browsing, an good 10%, strongly reinforcing what GP said: not everyone is using Microsoft software on their PC; and Microsoft is a hugely important company, but not as influential on the PC market as it used to be.
In the real world outside slashdot, a company with 90% share of a market would be considered pretty influential.
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Oh please! Linux zealots live and breath hyperbole and lies. Granted, he should have said "an overwhelming majority" instead of "everyone", but his point still stands.
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Uh, no, that's not true. You're lying.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Microsoft makes smartphones? Who knew?
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People are staying with Windows, despite the horrendous shittiness of Windows 10, for one simple reason - they have nowhere else to go.....
The interesting thing about your post is that you don't mention Chromebooks or Google office. I'm guessing that the Microsoft feels the breath at the back of their necks and instructs their astro-turfers never to mention them.
Chromebooks?!?! Google office??!
Bwaa haa haaa
How many of those are showing up on corporate or government desks?
Yeah, zero.
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People are staying with Windows, despite the horrendous shittiness of Windows 10, for one simple reason - they have nowhere else to go.....
The interesting thing about your post is that you don't mention Chromebooks or Google office. I'm guessing that the Microsoft feels the breath at the back of their necks and instructs their astro-turfers never to mention them.
because crhomebooks and google office are a bad joke when it comes to actually being productive.
Re:The death spiral is continuing. (Score:5, Interesting)
Their problem, though, is that everyone's PC runs on their old software just as well (if not better) than their new software.
What the Windows 10 debacle has shown is that the old stuff is good enough that the only way they can push the new stuff to a reasonable fraction of their users is to essentially force it on them, for free.
At the same time, efforts to diversify into other areas have not been, to put it charitably, as successful as they would have liked.
I'll agree that they're still critical and relevant, but at the same time, they're the least critical and most irrelevant than any other time in the history of the PC.
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At the same time, efforts to diversify into other areas have not been, to put it charitably, as successful as they would have liked.
I'll agree that they're still critical and relevant, but at the same time, they're the least critical and most irrelevant than any other time in the history of the PC.
Relevant quote:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Because for some strange reason, humans need to believe that what is, is always how it will be.
Microsoft is on most business computers (with some very notable and important exceptions) so Microsoft will always be number one, world without end, amen.
But that isn't how it works, no matter how much some of us demand stasis.
I don't have a dog in this pissing contest, as I use and enjoy OSX (now MacO
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IOW, the faithful will in the not too distant future will be able to prove their loyalty with their wallets, forever and ever, world without end, amen. We'll see how that works out. It won't take all that long until you have paid much more for your Windows machine than that stupid hipster and his "overpriced" Mac.
I'm quite sure Windows isn't going anywhere for at least the next quarter-century, especially in business computing. We've had alternatives now for ages, but they just don't get any adoption. Cu
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"Because for some strange reason, humans need to believe that what is, is always how it will be."
That's not the point of the quote at all. It's a commentary on ambitious rulers and past civilizations. You should also give Shelley proper credit for writing it.
Perhaps that is your personal interpretation.
A whole lot of us note tht it is a poem about the hubris of people, believing that th etop dog will always be that way, and anyone else should just give up, because there is no point.
Many leaders believe that their government or ideals will last forever, or near enough. Like Microsoft sycophants, who believe that Microsoft will be number one forever. That would be a first. Look upon their Microsoft's works and despair, oh every other software company.
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Shelley was a romantic anarchist, not a reactionary satirist.
Re:The death spiral is continuing. (Score:4, Informative)
At the same time, efforts to diversify into other areas have not been, to put it charitably, as successful as they would have liked.
No, they making money by the bucket-load. Check it out, the new face of Microsoft [computerworld.com]. They missed mobile, but they've managed to diversify sufficiently into other areas that they are now more profitable than any time in the company's history.
Good riddance to Windows, though. May it die a quick death.
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What the Windows 10 debacle has shown is that the old stuff is good enough that the only way they can push the new stuff to a reasonable fraction of their users is to essentially force it on them, for free.
That doesn't make them any less relevant. If they just up and disappeared who will patch the many thousands of holes that remain in the system? If anything Microsoft is more relevant than ever, and the entire world should be paying attention to them around about the time that Windows 7 reaches end of life. The way they approach that problem will have more affect on the world than anything Apple or other "flavour of the modern mobile world" could do.
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do you see businesses switching all their workstations to OSX or Linux? Nope.
Um, that's not entirely correct.
Remember that little corporation, IBM, you were talking about? They are busily deploying Macs (running MacOS, in case you wondered) at the rate of 1,300 new installs per week (now actually 1,900), and to the tune of 90,000 as of October, 2016 [9to5mac.com], and projected to be 100,000 units by the end of last year [appleinsider.com] (now actually 130,000).
And if you read the second linked-to article, you will note that it is the employees that decide whether they want a Mac, and if so, they receive a new
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Microsoft in the last few years seems out of touch, is hostile to its own customers, is playing catcup and desparately trying to figure out what the next big thing is, and copies its competitors. With Satya at the helm they just seem... confused. Meanwhile PC use is dropping in the home, but still strong in the office, while Microsoft keeps focusing on the home while ignoring the office. The only place they are critical is the office, but the office is finding ways to work around Microsoft, like staying
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Good luck editing a document or spreadsheet on a smartphone. Obviously, your family members don't do any real work.
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Obviously, your family members don't do any real work.
You'll find that's common for kids and retirees.
Meanwhile, in the office, Apple laptops are the norm in the tech industry. Boggles my mind, since they don't even have docking stations, and the battery life is about half of what I get, but there it is. What I've been seeing for years is 90% Apple, 5% Windows, 5% Ubuntu.
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You'll find that's common for kids and retirees.
Kids and retirees really don't matter much in the computing market. It's the business/enterprise customers that make MS a ton of money.
What I've been seeing for years is 90% Apple, 5% Windows, 5% Ubuntu.
Where do you live? I've never seen anything like that. I did phone-interview with some very small company a couple years ago that said they used Macs, but that's the only one I've ever even heard of, except for that article I read about IBM. Before that, I
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Left coast. You'll find it's that way at Amazon, Apple (obviously), Facebook, and Google. Naturally Microsoft is the exception out of the Big 5. They in turn set the trends for startups.
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That explains it; the places I've seen are more conservative and more east-coast. Intel was all Thinkpads when I was there, and other companies I've seen used Dells and HPs.
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Apple laptops are the norm in the tech industry
Because you work in the tech industry you are assuming that the tech industry is the bellwether of industry in general. People in other industries such as banking or car manufacturing would probably disagree.
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The pedantry here is ridiculous. "Everyone" in my prior post is obviously slightly hyperbolic in the context in which it was used, and a normal colloquial usage. The reality is that over 90% of everyone's PCs are running their software, and if you isolate that to business/government PCs it's almost 100%.
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Exactly!!! I'm not sure why they even try, except for two ideas: 1) they're hoping to get lucky and find another extremely profitable cash cow somewhere, with the reasoning that if they throw enough shit at the wall something will stick, and/or 2) their executives would get really bored if they just pared themselves back to a minimal staff and collected licensing fees, so they might as well keep busy doing something.
Besides, you have to be realistic: if they really did eliminate all their developers, their
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There is no sign of a death spiral in these layoffs. The article cites 1600 job openings Microsoft currently has posted on LinkedIn alone, so they are still growing. And each of these employees has 60 days to find new internal positions at Microsoft, so if their skills are still relevant they don't necessarily even need to leave Microsoft.
This is simply sign of a transitioning company that knows it cannot be successful simply sticking to the status quo.
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I would fire the guy who made the registry to begin with. It was always a bad idea.
Needlessly cryptic to figure out what does what. A single point of failure for the entire is.
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Linux just works! Your files never just disappear after a crash when the directory entries get pruned, and when that never happens, you just rewrite the configuration because you memorized it. Linux! Bestest ever. You heard it here on slashdot, home of rabid linux zealotry!
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Linux just works! Your files never just disappear after a crash when the directory entries get pruned, and when that never happens, you just rewrite the configuration because you memorized it. Linux! Bestest ever. You heard it here on slashdot, home of rabid linux zealotry!
Sarcasm only works when you don't sound like a meth head when you use it. Now go get a good nights sleep, dear.
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I've routinely pulled the power cord out of a local server just to demonstrate to a coworker that it's more robust than Windows. I had to because they refused to turn the power off. They were too afraid. Properly set up, you will NOT get an unbootable machine. And it only takes seconds to check and restore a journaling file system and be up and running again.
Those who claim Windows is better really need to, as you say, stop with the meth.
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I've routinely pulled the power cord out of a local server just to demonstrate to a coworker that it's more robust than Windows. I had to because they refused to turn the power off. They were too afraid.
Which, by the way, is why a lot of people would not update. Having to reboot after updates is anathema to people who have spent so much time just getting the computer to run that they become superstitious and afraid to restart it once they get it running. I've worked with several people who are deathly afraid of a reboot.
Properly set up, you will NOT get an unbootable machine. And it only takes seconds to check and restore a journaling file system and be up and running again.
Those who claim Windows is better really need to, as you say, stop with the meth.
Years ago, setting up a Linux computer took a bit of effort, admittedly. So if someone here wants to complain about 20 year old problems, I'll happily discuss Windows 95 with them. But as
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Never, it just doesn't get corrupted anyhow. And if it ever did, you don't have to reinstall the system, just reconfigure. You see, the reason why you windows users fail at using other OSes is that you expect everything to work like microsoft has told you.
There you have it! From cancelling installs when they see a warning, to trying to install off the internet to trying to impose Windows on a Unixy machine, Windows users tend to make their own problems when trying to use Linux.
Re: Hopefully It's The UI Design and Privacy Teams (Score:2)
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Exactly, we should only use flat files for configuration, and the /etc directory is not a single point of failure because reasons, and the file system is not a single point of failure because reasons.
And the cpu is not a single point of failure because reasons ...
You can always boot linux or bsd off another media and fix the problem - usually quite quickly, with nothing more than vim. Or in the case where the complete file system, or even the hard drive itself, are toast, just reinstall. Or even just use the computer for the next year or two without a hard drive - KNOPPIX is great for not needing a hard drive. A reinstall of windows is a real PITA in comparison.
Windows is a single point of failure. Pr
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The idea of the registry was to place all critical information about the system in a location that would be inaccessible to hackers and spyware. This file could then be easily backed up and restored rather than having all the information scattered all over the place.
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I would fire the guy who made the registry to begin with. It was always a bad idea.
The registry as originally created was actually a great idea. Every program still used ini files for it's own settings, but you had the registry, very small at the time, as a sort of "global ini file" for things like file associations that needed to be centralized. A lightweight DB-style approach was safer for third parties to edit than a tree of text files - it actually limited the damage of an installer bug.
Then some asshole got the idea to move all program settings into the registry, and a ton of OS se
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A lot of stuff like that starts life as a good idea, but then gets totally and completely perverted in practice due to higher ups not understanding things. The registry probably fits in that category. XML as well.
Microsoft is leaning itself out (Score:2, Interesting)
I think Microsoft is saying one thing in public and doing just the opposite. It has not improved its mobile position in the least with Windows 10. Universal Apps is a flop on the desktop and even Xbox is selling half of what Playstation is for Sony. Windows 10 probably can't be considered a flop, but it certainly shows much in value to its users as sales flat lined after the free upgrade period. Even the Surface line appears to be struggling to expand in a market where cheap PC's are the only thing propping
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There is the business services unit that I still see very active.
I expect Microsoft is going to be like IBM dropping its consumer products and focus more on B2B products and relationships.
End use technology is really too cheap to focus software for.
Back when a good PC cost 2k. Putting an extra couple hundred bucks for OS and software was normal.
Today with PCs under $500 and will last you 6-10 years before going out of date means conserned are not willing to invest software on such a cheap system.
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>> I expect Microsoft is going to be like IBM dropping its consumer products
We can only hope. The moment that AAA games developers finally end their windows exclusivity and take Linux seriously I'll be formatting my Windows partition, since I only use it for gaming and already do everything else under Linux. Been saying that for decades now though.
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You still can. Order a TrueOS DVD or USB stick from OSdisc.com, and you're good to go
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You wouldn't be referring to Leonart Poettering and the whole "we need a new init system that we can force on everyone" care of RedHat, would you?
After all, what better way to get more customers for support than to create a new standard and force it on everyone ...
Microsoft's effective negative advertising (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft ignored the fact that trying to sell "Apps" when people have work to do on their computers is not appropriate.
Windows 10 tries to force Microsoft's control, imitating the cell phone companies that, more and more, take control away from the customer and user.
That acted as extremely effective negative advertising. Almost every technically knowledgeable person is now aware of what they consider extreme abuse.
In my opinion, the negative advertising damages Microsoft and indicates that Microsoft top managers are not competent.
Re:Microsoft's effective negative advertising (Score:4, Insightful)
Microsoft ignored the fact that trying to sell "Apps" when people have work to do on their computers is not appropriate.
The funny thing is that after all the abuse that you still don't realize that you don't own Windows, it's owns you and it always has. Only lately have they have chosen to blatantly exert their will.
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Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Probably wha tthe new administration will do is pay Microsoft a billion dollars in return for only laying off 600 of them, showing that they are bringing jerbs back, making us great again.
If you're gonna fire someone... (Score:1)
Fire the teams of developers that were responsible for Windows 8 and 10. Thanks to these guys, the Windows codebase is forever screwed. By far and large, the Windows 7 operating system is/was the BEST version ever released by Microsoft. It's a bit ironic, considering how "bad" we thought Windows Vista was at the time; in comparison to 8 and 10, even Vista seems like it's gold. The user interface was very functional, and pleasant to use. Microsoft wasn't hell bent on combining the PC and tablet worlds, this
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Start menu where's my Start menu! Uck you Microsoft where the fuckimg fuck is my fuckinv start fucking menu! START. MENU.
Yeah, you have to have a Start button for when you want to stop your computer. Anything else is just unintuitive.
Does not matter. (Score:1)
Since the advent and maturation of the virtual machine, the base OS ju7st has not mattered. You can change OS as easily as drinking a coke - unless you are using the MS hypervisor Hyper V. What will keep MS in the running is Adobe products. There are no near Linux/OSX/Chrome equivalents. Eventually Adobe will port to Linux; but the market is not there yet.
As far as MS cutting employees, one question that intrudes on my mind is how many of those soon to be dismissed employees are H-1B's. I put my money on no
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Since the advent and maturation of the virtual machine, the base OS ju7st has not mattered. You can change OS as easily as drinking a coke - unless you are using the MS hypervisor Hyper V. What will keep MS in the running is Adobe products. There are no near Linux/OSX/Chrome equivalents. Eventually Adobe will port to Linux; but the market is not there yet.
As far as MS cutting employees, one question that intrudes on my mind is how many of those soon to be dismissed employees are H-1B's. I put my money on none/zero/zilch. This becomes important because every year MS is screaming for more H-1B's; yet in this round of cut employees there are up to 700 qualified employees.
What? Where are you?
The lovely and always happy-to-phone-home 'Creative Suite' runs just as poorly on OS X as it does on Windows.
Further, you might be surprised about all of the high end creative software that runs on Linux. Interestingly, that stuff is so high end that if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.
Eeeeeeexcellent! (Score:1)
Let the heads continue to roll, can't wait until we're rid of them. No other company in the history of mankind have been so detrimental to society in all kinds of ways, ranging from lost opportunities from market abuse to lost productivity thanks to their shoddy products. Die, mofos.
I have a better solution.... (Score:5, Insightful)
They need to lay off 700 executives.
Saves more money and fixes a big problem with Microsoft... They are top heavy as hell
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Don't worry, Donald Trump will save all those jobs, personally. Just like he's going to make coal relevant again and remove all factory automation.
They're just bumping their stock price (Score:4, Informative)
The lesson? If you find that the behavior the regulation was meant to stop has stopped; well, maybe, just maybe the reason is there was a regulation to stop it.
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Except now we're going to be 4 or 8 years with the executive and legislature convinced that all regulation is evil. Possibly the judicial will go that way too. Time for return of the robber barons.
Mid terms (Score:2)
Someone Call President Trump! (Score:1)
He can save 175 of those jobs by paying Microsoft $7000 per job!
Only 700? (Score:2)
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Companies sometimes lie to the managers in order to do this, they don't want the workers to see worry in their boss' face and ruin morale before it's time to crush it. It also causes the workers to be furious at their bottom line managers instead of directing the anger at the board and executives.
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": sorry, can't pay for the drinks, meine Pflichtversicherungen, Kraftfahrzeugsteuer- und Gebühreneinzugszentralle already took all the money."
And Slashdot's crappy character encoding has made off with your umlauts.
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