Beyond Binary

With Microsoft having, at the very least a "hiring chill," we decided to check in with other big tech giants on their hiring plans.

It's a little hard to get a clear picture of what other companies are doing--in part because so many have already announced plans to cut jobs. Intel's workforce is down thousands from where it was a couple years ago. Hewlett-Packard has already said it plans to shave 24,000 jobs as part of its EDS purchase, while Dell and others have also been cutting back.

Yahoo, already under pressure from competitor Google and the ugly saga of Microsoft's attempt to acquire the company, said Friday that it is bracing itself for a weaker advertising market.

"We believe it's imperative we align our cost structure with today's economic realities," said Yahoo spokesman Brad Williams. "We've been looking at ways to streamline our processes and bring more efficiencies to how we work as an organization," he said, and the company hired Bain & Co. to "help us identify opportunities for improvement."

He wouldn't confirm that layoffs are part of the plan, but payroll is a major expense, and most employees know how to read the tea leaves when they hear the word "streamline."

Though Yahoo is under pressure itself, Williams said the economy and the advertising market led to the current analysis. "The collapse of the credit markets...accelerated what had been a pretty uncertain market," he said.

For its part, Google said "We continue to hire talented people across functions for our offices worldwide." Of course, the real question is at what pace they continue that hiring.

In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt supplied a big dose of caution about whether there might be effects from the broader economic issues.

"It's a very dynamic situation. There is evidence credit is a problem for certain sectors. We have not yet seen any impact from it," Schmidt said. But, he added, "We might. All bets are off. Nobody knows."

Many expect TV and print advertising to be hit harder, but that doesn't mean online ads are immune. Even if individual ads or campaigns are profitable, the ad market can be hurt when customers tighten their purse strings and advertisers reduce spending.

Most other companies didn't have much new to say on a Friday afternoon, but it's fair to say that every company has got to be taking a second look at those 2009 numbers. Anyway, here's what several big names did have to say on the matter.

Dell: Dell spokesman David Frink said the company is certainly monitoring things, but had nothing new to announce. "But as you know, we've got a well publicized effort under way to reduce costs," Frink said. Dell has cut 8,500 workers from its ranks in the last four quarters. That said, Frink said Dell "will selectively hire in areas that are important."

HP: "Workforce rebalancing is a continual activity across our businesses and geographies to ensure that resources are aligned with the opportunities in the market," HP said in a statement. "We expect that our overhead costs, which include IT, real estate and shared support functions, will decline more from (fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2009) than they did from (fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2006)."

IBM: "We haven't announced any freeze," an IBM representative said. As of right now, nothing has changed at IBM. We continue to hire in key skills areas."

McAfee: "McAfee has not changed its hiring process and continues to make strategic investments in its personnel," A company representative told CNET News. "We continue to add to our headcount. McAfee has grown significantly over the past quarters."

Microsoft: "Microsoft will continue to grow and add thousands of new jobs this year, but given the current economic environment, we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate," spokesman Lou Gellos said in a statement. "We are optimistic about our prospects for growth and will continue hiring the talent we need to ensure our ongoing success."

Intel: Declined to comment, citing a pre-earnings announcement quiet period.

Apple: Declined to comment, also citing a pre-earnings quiet period.

Oracle: Declined to comment.

CNET News' Charles Cooper, Stephen Shankland, and Robert Vamosi contributed to this report.

Microsoft on Friday said it is reviewing its hiring plans amid the economic uncertainty, but denied a report that it has instituted a companywide hiring freeze.

IDG News Service reported Friday that Microsoft had instituted a hiring freeze, citing a source who had seen a company memo. A source close to the company said that report is not correct, but said Microsoft did send out guidance this week that it plans to tighten up hiring amid signs of a weakening economy. The company still expects to add jobs overall, however.

CEO Steve Ballmer spoke last week of a certain "buoyancy" within the tech industry despite economic uncertainty, but also said that neither Microsoft nor the industry would be immune to a broad slowdown.

In comments this week in Europe, Ballmer sounded a slightly more cautious tone on the economy. Microsoft also urged Congress to pass the economic bailout bill after the House voted it down on Monday.

Update: IDG News Service has updated their post with a Microsoft spokesperson denying there is a companywide freeze.

"It is not true that we have instituted a hiring freeze," Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos is quoted as saying. "What is true is that we are evaluating hiring as we always do and we might make projections that are different than perhaps we had at the beginning of the year....This year we expect lots of growth and that we will hire lots of people. I think the nuance is in the fact that in light of the economy it's important that we do the prudent thing and evaluate projects that we're working on."

Update 2: So much for buoyancy. Microsoft said "the current global economic situation has created a tough business environment for many companies" and added that since no company is immune to this, it is "imperative" for Microsoft to be fiscally responsible.

In a statement, Gellos said: "Microsoft will continue to grow and add thousands of new jobs this year, but given the current economic environment we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate," Gellos said. "We are optimistic about our prospects for growth and will continue hiring the talent we need to ensure our ongoing success."

The idea of a full-on hiring freeze at Microsoft seems impractical given the company's online services push, in particular. The company is already in the process of building and equipping a number of massive data centers as well as hiring more engineering talent in its effort to catch Google.

The company had 91,000 employees as of its last public statement. Ballmer was asked a question at the Churchill Club event last week and the reporter suggested that Microsoft now had more than 100,000 employees. Ballmer said he didn't think that was the case.

Having failed to buy all of Yahoo, or even its search business, Microsoft is now looking to take an even more piecemeal approach--hire its workers.

Hmmm. Now who could Microsoft be targeting here?

(Credit: Microsoft)

The company took out an ad in the San Jose Mercury News touting the fact that it has search jobs available in Silicon Valley.

"There are now very few companies that remain truly committed to defining the future of search and online advertising," the ad reads. "Microsoft is one of them."

Microsoft's not-so-subtle dig at Yahoo is particularly well-timed amid rumors that Yahoo is in a hiring freeze, or at least a cold chill and amid a rash of high-level defections.

In the ad, Microsoft touts its partnerships with Facebook, Viacom, and Dow Jones and suggests the fun of chasing Google.

"We have a long way to go," the ad states. "It will be an exciting journey. Come join us. We have jobs in Mountain View, Redmond, and around the world."

I'll be curious to see how the hiring push pays off. On the one hand, it would seem like for a whole lot less than $40 billion, Microsoft should be able to go on a pretty significant hiring spree. At the same time, I've heard of a lot of people leaving Yahoo, but haven't heard of any big names joining Microsoft.

But, I'm open to hearing about them. Hint. Hint.