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Microsoft To Lay Off 17% Of Workforce?

Fudzilla, a tech blog, reports that Microsoft may lay off 17% of its work force, or 15,000 people, on Jan. 15, but Silicon Alley Insider contends that a cut of this magnitude is unlikely.

"Unless Microsoft's business has been absolutely crushed in the past two months, there is no reason for the company to suddenly cut this much cost," writes Henry Blodget. He points out that Microsoft's margins are actually fine, as much of the company's revenue is generated from multi-year contracts that aren't expiring anytime soon.

Blodget says the only way Microsoft would lay off this many people is if decided to eliminate whole businesses, but again, this is unlikely, because the software giant would be more likely to sell rather than shut down any divisions it no longer wanted. This includes MSN, which Fudzilla cites as a major recipient of the pending job cuts. Blodget adds that if Microsoft wanted to get out of the Internet biz, the best way would be to combine its online operations with Yahoo and then take a majority stake in the combined entity. However, Microsoft just hired a new head of MSN, and while it's possible he will make some cuts, "15,000 sounds extreme," Blodget says.

Read the whole story at Silicon Alley Insider »

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