“Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer this morning informed employees that the company will be cutting more jobs — going forward with the second phase of its previously announced plan to eliminate up to 5,000 positions by June 2010. The company isn’t giving a specific number, but Ballmer’s memo says the latest move means Microsoft is ‘mostly but not all done with the planned 5,000 job eliminations,'” Todd Bishop reports for TechFlash.
“That implies the latest job cuts will affect more than 3,000 people, because the company eliminated 1,400 positions in the first phase of layoffs. Microsoft executives had hoped the economy would hold up enough that they could avoid implementing the full layoff plan,” Bishop reports. “‘This is difficult news to share. Because our success at Microsoft has always been the direct result of the talent, hard work, and commitment of our people, eliminating positions is hard,’ Ballmer wrote.”
MacDailyNews Take: Talented, hard-working, and committed like a leaderless army of uncalibrated copier machines.
Bishop continues, “The latest layoffs are roughly equally spread between the U.S. and international markets, a Microsoft representative said. The first round was more concentrated in the United States. The company didn’t give a number for the Seattle region, but the total is likely to emerge later through a filing with the state Employment Security Department.”
“Microsoft isn’t breaking down the latest cuts by unit or division of the company,” Bishop reports. “The initial cuts appeared to hit the Entertainment & Devices Division particularly hard, so it will be interesting to see if those teams are spared the brunt of this latest round.”
Full article, with link to the the full text of Steve Ballmer’s memo to employees about the layoffs, here.
MacDailyNews Take: Look on the bright side, remaining softies, reservations at the new mall’s restaurants and soccer field just got easier. May the affected employees quickly find fulfilling, well-paying jobs with an ethical company that’s committed to quality and not led by a clown, for a change.
