Axe about to drop at Microsoft

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in microsoft on (#3R1)
The Sword of Damoclese may be well about to drop over at Microsoft today. Last week, Satya Nadella promised a big shake-up in the way Microsoft does business, corporate-speak for a reorganization many would say is long-overdue.

Today is the day.
Employees at the company's campus in Redmond, Wash., are already bracing for the news. Human resources managers have begun reserving conference rooms for most of Thursday, most likely a sign that they will be used to meet with laid-off employees, a person with knowledge of the plans said. Employees will have an opportunity to question Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, about the cuts on Friday at a regular town hall meeting that was scheduled before the exact timing of the layoffs was known.

Frank Shaw, a company spokesman, declined to comment.
Reply 11 comments

Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 12:13 (#2HK)

Got to appreciate the process of creative destruction, and you will if you ever work for an organization that's gotten choked with deadwood: useless middle managers, antiquated processes set in stone, ridiculous petty assistants ruling their little fiefdom like would-be dictators. The only way to fix it is to bring in a guy with a hatchet (or hey, a woman with a hatchet). That goes for Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, the government, you name it.

Managers are like cancer. Got to occasionally cut them out before they metastasize and run amok all over your business. I think Microsoft had this coming a long time ago, but Monkeyboy Ballmer and BillG had way too much influence over every process that would've let to change. I say, let this guy swing his axe, and chop Microsoft up into something that makes good products again. It's been too long. I know it's hip to hate on Microsoft, and I am a Linux/BSD guy, but back in the day, they made some pretty good stuff. Just not anymore. Microsoft Outlook 97 was pretty damned good. Microsoft Outlook 2013 is a steaming pile of horse manure and I wish it would rot in bit hell. Just an example.

Re: Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 2, Insightful)

by skarjak@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 13:47 (#2HP)

I have nothing more to say about what you typed, other than to say that BillG is an awesome nickname and I will now always refer to him as such.

Re: Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 14:05 (#2HQ)

It's his own nickname. I think it was his login at Microsoft or something. I didn't make it up. :)

Re: Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-07-17 19:59 (#2HV)

Did you make up Ballmers nickname or is that his login too?

Re: Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 20:37 (#2HX)

Ballmer's nickname arose from his infamous monkey dance video where he screams Developers! Developers! Developers! while dancing like a (rather chubby) monkey on stage at a Microsoft event.

Re: Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 20:40 (#2HY)

Errr... seems the Developers! chant was from another video clip. Monkey dance still a monkey dance though.

Re: Out of the flames arises ... something (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 23:09 (#2J0)

Yeah, if ever someone earned the name "MonkeyBoy" it was Ballmer, doing that awful, painful-to-watch, sweaty jump-a-thon. Makes me cringe just to think about it.

The numbers are in (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-18 00:39 (#2J2)

So they are cutting 18,000 jobs, mostly from Nokia divisions not working on Microsoft compatible products.

Re: The numbers are in (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-07-18 11:44 (#2J7)

I wonder if any Nokia employees were originally excited to think they would be working for Microsoft, only to have their dreams crushed to find out Microsoft was quickly going to throw them off the boat.

My impression is that most Nokiaites were pretty depressed about the buy-out and nostalgic about the good old days when Nokia was a leader and a source of Finnish pride.

Every single outsourced employee should send a hateful letter to Microsoft senior management in ODF format. Just to be a jerk.

Re: The numbers are in (Score: 1)

by nightsky30@pipedot.org on 2014-07-18 12:03 (#2J9)

By "outsourced employee", do you mean the Nokia workers that were laid off, or the foreigners that will be hired? Or Both? ;)