What is Digg?105 Comments
- fraggle35, on 01/01/2009, -3/+60I wonder how many Zune coders have been added to the list.
- Bloake, on 01/02/2009, -2/+43Microsoft hasn't laid off anyone...ever?
- deadbaby, on 01/02/2009, -1/+26It would do Microsoft some good to trim the fat. They number of people they have working on any given project is staggering. More man power doesn't directly lead to better code. If anything it's the opposite. Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and whatnot.
- greatgatsbyII, on 01/02/2009, -2/+26I wish Microsoft would focus it's energy in making Windows 7 the best freaking operating system we've ever seen. They need to get back to basics and just be a good software company.
- immatellyouwhat, on 01/02/2009, -17/+41I'm a PC and I'm....what? FIRED? ***** this I'm switching to Mac!
- tattertech, on 01/02/2009, -2/+23I know! They're so evil!
- Phearce, on 01/02/2009, -0/+13Potentially good discussion point. Horrible delivery.
- archer75, on 01/02/2009, -2/+14That's standard everyone. Cafeteria service is always outsourced. Everywhere. I have yet to work at a company where it isn't.
Temp employees are just that. Temporary. Contract employees are only there to do a job and then they are gone. Yes, they are at the bottom of the totem pole. They should be. Standard practice everywhere. Your job title indicates you are there only temporarily, how much pull do you think you really deserve in the company? - gcnaddict, on 01/02/2009, -2/+13Zero.
Almost everyone underneath Allard is safe, and the leap year bug was a bug in code from Freescale Semiconductors. - DangerCollie, on 01/02/2009, -4/+15Well, it depends on how you count layoffs. If you don't count shipping jobs overseas to India and then letting people go who didn't want to relocated to Bangladore and work for $3 a day, then yeah, they've never laid anyone off. If you don't count contractors who (at least formerly) used to work for Volt and other vendors, large numbers of them come and go all the time, then yeah.
It's a pretty cynical distinction in my opinion. - AmnesiacJack, on 01/02/2009, -0/+9Steve, is that you?
- inactive, on 01/02/2009, -11/+19The recession is hitting everyone and let's face it Microsoft has been less than the most innovative of companies recently
- immatellyouwhat, on 01/02/2009, -3/+11Apple *has* probably laid off more than 3 times the Microsoft workforce over the years.
- AzzX, on 01/02/2009, -4/+12Apple have probably laid off more than 3 times the Microsoft workforce over the years.
- urfe, on 01/02/2009, -1/+8Actually, IEEE voted Microsoft as the most innovative company back in Nov. 2007.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/nov07/5645 - Myztry, on 01/02/2009, -4/+11With huge cash reserves, and IP acquisitions headed for basement prices, it makes sense.
Microsoft is primarily an IP trading/integration/leverage company so this will allow them to get back to their core strength.
The market is ripe for dropping the pretense. The Vista years of trying to innovate in-house didn't exactly pan out... - itsthemechanic, on 01/02/2009, -3/+10I used to work for Volt @ MS, and they can get rid of you on no notice whatsoever, and frequently do.
What shocked me while I was there is how much of a caste system MS is. Blue badges (=permanent employees) being the top caste, then orange badges (=Volt/other temp/contract outfits), and at the bottom of the totem pole, the catering staff in the cafeterias.. outsourced to Marriott and working for very, very little money and with no benefits whatsoever.
MS is not an Utopia more than any other place. - lordspidey, on 01/02/2009, -0/+7Heh it sucks, but that don't make it spyware.
- hmunkey, on 01/02/2009, -1/+7MS pays people in India almost the same wages they would get in America. They're not exploiting.
/indian - jakem1, on 01/02/2009, -0/+6You're ignoring the fact that MS operate in more markets and have more products than Apple.
- CoD4, on 01/02/2009, -1/+7buried as inaccurate, they made a nice big ass table
- CylonsOfTheLamb, on 01/02/2009, -1/+7What's the difference, really? While your equation (layoff != fired) may be true,
no job = no job
is also a true equation, as is:
no job = no paycheck
The only real differences between layoffs and firings is in the way future potential employers view you as someone who was a just another number in a layoff vs someone who was fired from a job. - nemesiscw, on 01/02/2009, -0/+6Orange Badge represent. Woot woot!
- hmunkey, on 01/02/2009, -0/+5@ucc
I'm Indian, and I don't think I'm racist... seeing as I live in America and I don't have a problem.
Maybe I'm a closet racist and I just don't know about it, but you in your digg-knowledge do. - newstart, on 01/02/2009, -3/+8An H1B worker with Microsoft gets the same pay as an American worker. I don't know why you call it cheap labor. Who the hell has been filling your head with propaganda anyway?
- KibibyteBrain, on 01/02/2009, -0/+5Yep, when Bill Gates was still around, it was good old Sith Force Choke for those who didn't perform up to snuff. No need for layoffs.
- Ghengis, on 01/02/2009, -0/+5Would they do that first or make cuts in areas like benefits. MS employees don't pay co-pays for their medical coverage, and it's cheaper than most I've seen. I don't know, maybe it's not enough to make the dent they need, but I imagine those employees would rather be employed with less benefits than unemployed with no benefits.
- mr5150, on 01/02/2009, -1/+6dugg you up for wishing and i hate to crush people's dreams...although MS has little problem with destroying anyone's hopes and aspirations......enjoy the digg up!
- fraggle35, on 01/02/2009, -4/+8It's called a joke.
- hmunkey, on 01/02/2009, -0/+4MS is actually one of the best companies when it comes to hiring. They're HUGE, yes they try to compensate workers well, even those overseas.
They have problems in other parts of their business but they're a pretty fair company and a desirable place to work at. - knowseek, on 01/02/2009, -1/+5As the article suggest, it would be the first officially announced layoff, but it certainly wouldn't be the first purge of employees by any stretch!
- jakem1, on 01/01/2009, -2/+6^^Racist.
- mrBitch, on 01/02/2009, -1/+5RE: "Microsoft is primarily an IP trading / integration / leverage company so this will allow them to get back to their core strength.
The market is ripe for dropping the pretense. The Vista years of trying to innovate in-house didn't exactly pan out.."
Bingo! Microsoft is the 21st century equivalent of "Standard Oil". The amazing thing is just HOW similar Microsoft actually are :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil
" Established in 1870, it operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational corporations until it was broken up by the United States Supreme Court in 1911.
John D. Rockefeller was a founder, chairman and major shareholder, and the company made him a billionaire and eventually the richest man in modern history." - inactive, on 01/02/2009, -0/+4UCCCF
If an American can compete with education and price - then MS will be hiring Americans.
If you want a world economy and can't compete - cry like a whining bitch somewhere else... I think Cuba or Venezuela has a good socialist job for you! - mikelieman, on 01/02/2009, -2/+6Which is why Microsoft products are so well respected?
- sqlfan, on 01/02/2009, -0/+4Very accurate comment, and anyone who's been at that company in the 90's as well as now could attest.
I'll agree that lay-offs have happened many times before, but MS calls them "re-orgs". And, it's not unheard of for Redmond FTE jobs to vanish only for the work to go to vendors or India or China.
thefarouk - this may surprise you but there are many MS alums who left under their own volition. - Thepirateking, on 01/02/2009, -0/+4'nother Orange Badge bit of Dash trash here!
- guitarcd, on 01/02/2009, -8/+12Microsoft may have never had a lay-off before, but it sure has repeatedly kicked the people doing the real work to the curb. Just my .02 from my experiences there, the only people doing ANY work are the contractors and vendors, who aren't listed as employees. When something actually needs to meet a deadline, they'll outsource it to a vendor, also anything involving day-to-day biz necessities like scrubbing toilets... those aren't employees either.
The employees there are the biggest group of entitlement ***** I've ever encountered, which is a feat in the Seattle area. Even when they hire folks from other countries (ones that teach honest work ethics), the culture of the "blue badge" somehow transforms them in six months to a year to the same type of ***** artist that gets maximum gain from minimum real effort. ***** the employees, they're overdue for a layoff. The only bad news in this is that the vendors and contractors must have already been taking it in the shorts for months if they're announcing this now. - Murdats, on 01/02/2009, -2/+6you realise apple released more vista ads then microsoft did right?
- inactive, on 01/02/2009, -0/+4Apple has fired a HELL OF A LOT more people than MS has.
And um, why would you switch to a pricer, less utilitarian Apple ? What to surf the web and blog more while out of work and paying off the extra money to buy the Mac?
Yep- you're a mactard. - TheStamp, on 01/02/2009, -0/+4Salute!
- cquinnd, on 01/02/2009, -1/+4Rumor had it that many of the Zune coders had been sent over to the Windows Mobile team, to work on the next generation interface on those products.
- archer75, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3The bug was a result of the freescale coders.
- linagee, on 01/02/2009, -4/+7layoff != fired.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layoff
"Layoff is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or (more commonly) a group of employees for business reasons, such as the decision that certain positions are no longer necessary or a business slow-down or interruption in work. "
Fired = Get the heck out of here and don't let that door hit you on the way out.
Layoff = We can't afford you anymore. - mrBitch, on 01/02/2009, -2/+5RE: "Almost as bad as the spyware Safari."
The only OS where spyware "just works" is Windows. - thefarouk, on 01/02/2009, -1/+4So how long ago did they fire you, guitar?
- thelastcivilian, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3That left hand is mighty swollen. 43 people worked on the "shutdown" menu/operation for Vista (source: http://moishelettvin.blogspot.com/2006/11/windows- ... ).
It's like graphic design -- the more people are involved = the worse it gets. - Murdats, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3and that rocky start was mostly nvidia and audio manufactures.
I have been using vista happily since RC1 as my sole OS. - alais, on 01/02/2009, -2/+5I somehow doubt anyone will care
- CylonsOfTheLamb, on 01/02/2009, -1/+4I would also suggest talking to the people in Dallas who used to work for Microsoft.
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