Microsoft slashes 5000 jobs

[soupy11]

I don't get it, but Microsoft's lower than expected profits of 4.17 BILLION dollars is resulting in a first ever job slash.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsoft-stuns-with-profit-rb-14131144.html

I understand a company has to please it's shareholders, but this is just a real shame......

 

[chris1gill]

The economy is in great shape, people are buying computers everyday

 

[C.Ann]

Another 5000 unemployed? Great..

 

[Lanshark]

Motorola announced an additional 4000 on top of 3000 already slated to be "let go".

It's going to be a bumpy ride

 

[luvmy3]

I believe Intel announced 6000 job cuts today also.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Uggh! It's getting worse everyday. 2009 is going to be very rough.

 

[C.Ann]

Motorola announced an additional 4000 on top of 3000 already slated to be "let go".

It's going to be a bumpy ride

I believe Intel announced 6000 job cuts today also.

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Sheesh.. At this rate there won't be anyone left with a job!

 

[luvmy3]

I'm not allowed to say which but expect another large company to announce lay offs soon

 

[Mom loves Disney]

This is so sad. I hope things turn around soon.

 

[Anewman]

I'm not allowed to say which but expect another large company to announce lay offs soon

I expect MANY large companies to announce layoffs soon.

 

[Galahad]

With Microsoft and Oracle and other tech companies like that, expect it to be a little less dire. Odds are that they will hire 2/3 that number in the same time period doing different things than those that left. My company is a financial company, but with a very large I.T. staff. We shed about 500 I.T. jobs in the last 20 months and have hired about 300 I.T. staff in the same period. For good or bad, some shifting of priorities happens and it really isn't always cheaper to 'retrain' if you can hire the perfect fit right away. In a down economy you can hire the perfect fit. Another thing that is going on is that the demand for I.T. positions has not decreased dramatically - it's just that they want very specific skills. Because of the change in the way they hire I and many of my collegues are getting many more headhunter calls than we got even 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[bicker]

The economy is in great shape, people are buying computers everyday

The decrease in sales of computers in the fourth quarter of 2008 was mind-blowing. People really aren't buying computers everyday anymore, at least not as compared to 2007.

BTW: Only 1400 Microsoft employees were let go yesterday. The rest will be let go over the next 18 months. Also note that that 5000 is a world-wide number, not a US number (though most of the job losses so far are US).