Microsoft job cuts evenly spread

Microsoft spread the 1,400 immediate layoffs broadly across the company's units, according to a source familiar with the cuts.

The software maker announced plans early Thursday to cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, with the first round coming right away.

Hardest hit in those initial cuts, according to the source, were Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, followed by the Server and Tools unit and the Microsoft Business Division, which houses Office and Microsoft's Dynamics products.

Microsoft declined to go into detail on its job cuts, though it said in its press release that it was thinning everything from product research and development to support functions such as HR, finance, and information technology. As would be expected, Microsoft said the vast majority of its cuts to be in the greater Seattle area where most of the company's workers are based.

The software maker indicated it is , though it is re-evaluating its priorities in some areas. It is still hiring in some businesses, such as search, CEO Steve Ballmer noted on a conference call with analysts.

Anyone who wants to share more detail should feel free to drop me a line.

Update 3:50 p.m.: Microsoft confirmed that the Puget Sound area cuts on Thursday accounted for 872 of the 1,400 jobs that were cut.

to Microsoft, into Business,
Is it right to give me a place where they build Commercial building, close to mine Place where I live.
For me to rule the financial counts CES and the prize to pay for these Companies and Businesses.
To have a Secretariat and came over people who has to go, to pimp them into the Energy Priority and Microsoft World into the CES Energy Priority.
people who has a cut job, to place over, if can and want to travel, into a commercial complex into België,
The Start for all finance and all correct live after the come in Work Information.
To give Me A House, where I can Live in, the Place for be a Boss into the Energy Priority a place where it is worth to live, while doing such business.
I Shall Stay doing these job for Life.
And I never give away,
But I have a great Partner on Microsoft and CNET, and the place for a workplace into a commerciale building, can close to Nederland and close to België.
I know a Building place where they going to place a Commerciale building, start small and build up fast and Big.
To have a Partnerschip invitation to give me a place close by mine Home,
that place can be next to Hoogstraten and Brecht, next to a street is perfect for make up more work-floor, for the CES Energy Priority & Microsoft toghetter. To watch and look how we take ground and a Gamble to do, between friends, about when The First Cash came in, for make next to that place into St.Lenaarts, where I shall make a Secretariat for the financial can earn from Microsoft? and build only from that Secretariat, that doing her work good, with employers who others going to lose there job, before they has to Cut job, give a possibility to work into the Secretariat, to Make Money.

Frank Van Calster
CES Energy Priority & Club

[theantibush]

lay off the crack, frankie

To make when the Market stays into Brussel a agree with all electronic surveilvers to make Electronics to have after Brussel and after Egypte and Rusland to have enough electronics about electronics that can safe lifes, to came with the CES-Market in the middle from the GAZA and give them the stuff they need to live, normaly like they early lives into freedom and the needed comfort.
all other poor world parts has the right on each electronic that is sale into Engeland in a appart CES-Evenement to sale 1 electronic is one electronic pay inclusive for the 3th world and the GAZA, to make right what is destroyed, to make up everything and fast, to leave all Poor behind, and start living in comfortable world in peace back again. Peoples where mad, cause had nothing anymore, even no electronics, all entertaiment and humans most nesaceary Electronic products like a heet to make the potage hot. To let the world see, we realy love all people on earth, and that we realy care and doing everything to build up the world into fast track.
These Evenement is the Peace from them self, when came a good pre-making products where people has something better and health for. Like waterpomps, that don't stop pumping and easy turn the Pump into the ground, a mechanical developement to make the world back up.

Ik was net op tijd om mijn uitvinding te redden van de vernedering die gevaarlijk zou doen uitstralen over eenmislukte in elkaar gestoken CES-Worker daarmee bedoel ik het CES-opwekker zelf of met andere woorden in het engels uitgesproken de GGEG of het type waarvan niet uitbundig is besproken op de site doordat ik het moe was om de gehele vertaling al door te spelen aan het Licenty bureau waardoor ik daardoor de papieren van mijn bezitting van deze GGEG die wat kan opmaken, waardoor ik nu met de cijfers ga spelen in het belang van u zelf, zodat er bij vervalsing altijd geen code kan gekraakt worden naar de perfectie die enkel de perfecte uitgelegde vertaling, deze omgezette magnetische kracht kan doen juist bewegen. Het is mogelijk om een metaal in beweging te zetten, maar dit zal altijd mislukken doordat het papiergeheim enkel word doorgeleerd aan de bedrijven die op deze website hun producten moeten hebben terugroepen. Enkel zij zijn echter ook bekwaam om deze te kunnen maken onder het veilige vertaling van deze papieren die in een geheime school worden overgeschreven en waarvan na het instellen van de maschines en de werking van is gekend doordat het meermaals herhalen van de meeste kern woorden en het uitleggen in de juiste overgeleerde zinnen het GGEG kan doen aanmaken. Nadat deze maschines zijn ingesteld om deze juiste bewerking het metaal te smelten en in elkaar doet steken zoals een apparte productie word ingesteld voor deze ggeg, worden de papieren nadat het seintje is gegeven van de werknemer, die dolgelukkig het security departement opbelt om te vertellen dat het productie machien is ingesteld, deze papier worden komen opgehaald door een courier van het Security Departement waardoor deze weer worden overgeschreven in het mooi geschrift word overgeschreven door de volgende business of sony electro-technieken moeten handteren om deze papieren van buiten te leren, nadat het in veelvuldige zinnen werd uitgelegd wat men met het hoofd in 3 redeneringen zeker moet bijgeweten kennen, om het perfect werkende ggeg te kunnen aanmaken zoalst het hoort en zoals deze nadat deze gekend zijn nooit meer worden afgeleerd, maar nooit meer kan worden beschreven, doordat niemand zo geletterd is om met de simpelste woordenschat het onmogelijke uitteleggen en dit verstaanbaar mogelijk maakt te verstaan door de medemens en dit door het wel verstaan wat bijna onmogelijk is zonder dat er Volt, Watt, ampére aan de pas komt om het gelijke verdelen van de benodigde elektriciteit stroom zonder enige kennis van deze voelbare kenmerken en het toch duidelijk kunnen omzetten naar de preciese waarde in de perfectie uitgelegd en toegewezen, nooit meer word vergeten, na het instellen van deze productiviteiten, wanneer deze plannen werden teruggenomen door het security departement van het Ces-Priority die de financiële toestand bekijkt en nakijkt en zonodig controleerd wat ten strengste gebeurt in volle maten. het gezamenlijke Coöperatieve Enterprize Small Netwerk word genoemd. of in het kort vertaald: CES-Netwerk die instaat voor het aaneensluiten van 2 geheimen, namenlijk de letterlijke vertaling die telkens word vernield na overschrijvning en de code die sony heeft verweerd en waarvan de meeste bedrijven het lolletje ook door hebben waardoor er nooit zal worden gestreefd naar een volmaakte en Legale Ggeg doordat deze nooit de juiste guarantie papieren voor zal kunnen leggen wanneer het bedrijf niet in de opgenomen adressenlijst zal bevinden, waardoor het een zware boete zal kosten om dit namaak te garanderen wat een gevaar voor de bevolking is geweest tot het vernietigd is en waardoor het in deze tijden met de overschakeling van het elektriciteitsnetwerk grote gevaren met zich mee heeft gebracht waarvan de schade voor een levensbedreigende situatie had kunnen scheppen, dit word enkel toevertrouwd te maken door geprofecionaliseerde genoten van het CES-Netwerk Coörperative Enterprize Small

[theantibush]

Pretty obvious the "tech labor shortage" is biting Microsoft on the ass.

Wonder how many in Canada will be getting the axe.

Wait...those are cheaper...ooops...I mean better qualified employees.

[USCitizen]

It is funny how Bill Gates claims there are not enough US citizens qualified to work at MS. Considering the fact that MS is partially responsible for the training and certification of such workers. There are plenty of MCSE (MS certified systems engineers) and other certified workers in this country. Some people claim Vista is the culprit. It could be part of the problem b/c Vista does suck. Microsoft should be made an example of. Congress should levy a tax or punishment against MS for basically screwing Americans out of jobs and providing jobs to non-Americans. I personally have been in IT for some years now. I have personally experienced the problems with trying to find a job in any IT position. I graduated from college with a degree in computer networking. I attended Cisco Academy and got my MCSE/CCNA/CNE/A+ etc. I live in an area that is lagging IT wise. If it were not for traveling and doing contract work my education would be useless. Most of the contracts I have worked have paid around $12-$15/hr along with mileage and daily expenses. This does not equal much. By the time MS could pay for the plane tickets for H1B workers they could pay half of the cost of minimal MS certifications/classes. I know personally of at least 10 well qualified individuals in my area that are in the same boat as I am. There are basically 3 or 4 companies locally that hire IT people. One of which is the nation's largest coop telephone company . That company doesn't fair much better than MS. Most of their employees look like they would be better suited to sit in a tree stand rather than perform IT duties. One funny thing that I noticed during my education was a trip to Atlanta to attend the Association of Information Technology Professionals (aitp.org) conference which was basically a competition among many colleges. Areas of competition were programming, networking, database design, PC troubleshooting, web design and playing video games. Yes you heard it correctly PLAYING VIDEO GAMES?? Considering MS sponsored this competition I can understand a little gaming, but the winners of REAL competitions like programming/networking were rewarded around $500. The winners of the couch potato XBOX video gaming contest received much more. I don't recall the dollar amount, but I do recall them receiving computers all of which were Intel Extreme Edition computers worth many thousands of dollars. My point being that MS doesn't seem to be too concerned with the future workforce but more keen to pushing their products. Lately that has not been working for them. If they would have focused on rewarding the intellects rather than the stoner video gamers Vista or whatever is next (codename Crud), then their products would have a better chance of thriving. Now many people who invested money/time in an education in IT will be making plenty of dough. Pizza dough more than likely.

[xcal78]

MS is still turning a profit and doing fine. If I had to guess they are just cleaning house and blaming the economy since it's an easy scape goat right now.

[xcal78]

On a side note. I've done MCSE/CCNP/A+/MCT/MCDBA/Net+ over the years with a 4 year degree. Sadly I use none of that and make better money then using any of those certs. Look into SAP Basis you'll be set for life in those positions at 80k+ a year.

[Maccess]

It's very easy to see why these divisions are hardest hit:

Entertainment and Device >>> iPod, iTunes, Wii... plus never a very credible presence in market for this loss making division

Server and Tools >>> Linux, hosted services, cloud computing

Business Division >>> OpenOffice.org, hosted applications, MySQL, Postgresql,

[LaBeets1]

What ?
No cuts in India where they are paying workers $5 an hour ?
This is another Microsoft scam to increase the H-1B's in this country.
Gates & Ballmer, two un-Americans, greedy b*stards.......................

[xcal78]

Here's MS's money problem not Vista!

Xbox division: From 2001 till now MS has go negative between 7-9 billion dollars on the xbox. 8 straight years of negative profits in a row.

2001-2005: Negative 4 billion dollars
"Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Since launching Xbox in 2001, the Microsoft game console project has resulted in a $4 billion loss for the company, an amount estimated to be approximately equal to 10% of Microsoft's total cash reserves.

The Xbox game console was marketed by Microsoft as a loss leader with the plan of establishing a profit base derived from game sales and licensing to third party game publishers.

Microsoft intends to continue their loss leader strategy with the successor to their console, the Xbox 360, which will be released November 22, 2005, just in time for the Christmas buying season."

2006: Negative 1.29 billion dollars
"Despite losses in its game division of $1.26 billion for the fiscal year 2006"

2007: Negative 1.89 billion dollars
"Xbox 360 warranty charges drove Microsoft's Xbox division to post a $1.89 billion operating loss for the fiscal year."

2008: Positive 426 million dollars
"Microsoft Xbox Division Sees $426m Profit In Fiscal 2008"

Other: Negative 1 billion dollars
"income for 4Q07 is distorted by the $1 billion dollar charge for defective Xbox consoles"

[vancejen]

While focusing on the Microsoft and Intel job cuts, why no one pays an attention to the IBM layoff? After reporting a position 2008 finish and healthy 2009 outlook on Jan 20, IBM laid off thousands US workers on Jan 21. Go to http://www.allianceibm.org/ for reports from affected IBM employees.

I encourage CNET editors to do a special report on how IBM managed to do thousands layoff without getting media attention especially right after a positive earning report. The surpriesed profit growth is at the expenses of cutting US workers and moving to overseas.

[sailor63]

I need to buy my kid a new desktop.
But I would hate to see him get frustrated with Vista, as most people were.
So he'll be keeping his XP machine til we see if windows 7 is any better.