Jan 22
Once an ally, then a lane, now a street, tomorrow….?
Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft, sent an internal e-mail describing cuts they are making immediately and in the near future in response to the economic slowdown.
Microsoft revenue grew 2%, but is $900 million below their goals. So they intend to “realign resources and reduce costs”. Steps include:
- Layoffs of 5,000 people, hiring 2,000 other kinds of people
- cutting travel by 20%
- general reductions in stuff they buy and contract
- reduced marketing budgets (no more stupid ads – yeah!!)
Frankly, businesses the size of Microsoft probably should take these steps every few years anyway to clear away the bloat that inevitably accumulates.