Discussion for article #225163
There’s going to be a tiny sliver of the world’s population who have good-paying jobs in the tiny number of gigantic conglomerates. The rest of us can live on their crumbs.
That’s where we’re heading, if we’re not already there. These mergers have to stop, staring with Comcast/Time Warner.
3 Likes
When one business buys out another business, there really should be laws about how many jobs can get cut. I get that combining companies create efficiencies and that some jobs become superfluous. However, if the original two companies could support all of the original employees, then combining them should, in theory, still support all of the original employees. Plus you get to get rid of at least one CEO (who probably made untold millions, but probably gets untold millions more in a golden parachute). So, find work for these people instead of laying them off. Hopefully these people will get at least a year’s pay in severance, but it will probably only amount to a month or two.
This kind of thing is common in mature industries. Instead of doing something new or creative, business executives try to grow by buying some company or other and cutting its staff. Well, I guess it can be said that tech has matured as an industry. Bill Gates has grown old.
1 Like
If the sliver is small enough, it will be a simple matter for the un-privileged to rise up and take instead of waiting for crumbs to fall off the table.
Mitt Romney calls this “creative destruction” and he (and the 1%) loves it!
If you consider tablets and palm devices a mature industry.
Microsoft has requested about 18000 H-1Bs in the last 2 years. Now they are cutting 18000 jobs. They whine about a shortage of qualified staff while cutting jobs. We need to eliminate the H-1B program which involves NOTHING other than flooding the high-tech market with more and more scabs to drive down wages.
2 Likes
Gates is no longer associated with Microsoft.
GATES WILLIAM H III 317,992,107 shares as of May 19, 2014
1 Like
Yes, but he is no longer involved day-to-day.
Clearly it’s Obama’s fault that Microsoft has been less successful than Google or Apple in today’s tech market. /s/
“Microsoft’s stock rose slightly in Thursday premarket trading.” That’s what it all comes down to. Cutting payroll makes thebalance sheet look good and the share prices rise and that is all executives and shareholders care about.
3 Likes
In that event, I’d suggest learning chess so you can finagle your way into a meeting with Dr. Tyrell. Then you know what to do!
1 Like
If corporations are people, they are dicks
A large majority of the cuts are not to Microsoft’s US workforce. But don’t let facts get in your way.
That is the baseline for sure.
How inefficient could they have been? Those 18,000 people had to be doing something. Does this just pile 15 0r 20 % more work onto the remaining employees? Not to mention the threat of you could be next and it could get worse.
1 Like
Answer: no.
â…” (12,000) of the cuts are to Nokia, which was in trouble even before MS acquired the firm. You may anticipate that the entire feature phone (vs. smartphone) division will be jettisoned. Lousy margins, shrinking market share.
MS has also said that there will be cuts in the XBox international marketing workforce.
Correct. Early reports are that about 1,200 of the cuts will come from the MS main campus.
1 Like