Around the Net
Microsoft Announces Third Round Of Cuts
- TechFlash et al., Wednesday, November 4, 2009 3:11 PM
"Some portion of the new cuts will serve as the final phase of the company's original plan, announced in January of this year, to cut up to 5,000 jobs over 18 months," writes Seattle-based tech news site TechFlash, which first reported the news. "However, the new layoffs are expected to take the company beyond the original plan, as well."
Filling in the blanks, paidContent writes, "The number of jobs cut so far seems to have now exceeded the 5,000 figure, since Microsoft had said in its most recent quarterly filing that it had already eliminated 4,600 positions as part of those reductions."
According to TechFlash, "reorganizations" are not uncommon at Microsoft, but in healthier times employees who were no longer needed in one area were often able move to another area. "This time around, there aren't enough of those open jobs available," it writes. That's because, "The company isn't expanding at nearly the rate that it has in the past."
Indeed, just over a week ago, Microsoft once again reported sharp declines in revenue and profits, even though the results were better than analysts had expected.
Initially, the company cut 1,400 jobs in January, which was followed with thousands of additional layoffs in May. At the time, the company had warned that additional layoffs were still to come.
In a statement, Microsoft confirmed that it has now completed its "reduction plan," and "sooner than we had anticipated 11 months ago." That doesn't necessarily mean that the company can't begin a new round of layoffs, according to Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. Rosoff tells the Guardian that the success of the company's new operating system, Windows 7, along with its ability to reign in other expenditures, and the health of the broader economy will all be the judge of that.
