9 ms·
Microsoft has started layoffs today
- vaidhy 4y agoMicrosoft just announced a layoff of around 1000 people, including in experiences and devices which includes office and windows divisions.
- MontyCarloHall 4y agoFor context, Microsoft’s total headcount is around 220,000.
- MikusR 4y agoThey still had windows and offife divisions? I was sure they had swithced to something like rentacoder.
- bergenty 4y agoSo not a layoff.
- tuatoru 4y agoWhy does Twitter have a four to five second delay before showing anything? It should be ten milliseconds.
- Gustomaximus 4y agoWhile probably a rhetorical question. GT Metrix is a good site to answer - see the waterfall view: https://gtmetrix.com/ https://gtmetrix.com/ Also right click and inspect on your browser.
- tuatoru 4y agoAbout one-third rhetorical. Good answers for what to do about it in sibling replies, though.
- bushbaba 4y agoProbably the 1000ms!!! it takes for the GraphQL on tweets to respond. Ooph.
- pizza 4y agoDo you have a "More tweets" section under the main tweet? I have one, and I imagine that that is both generated on-the-fly and tailored to my browsing behavior. So it probably interrogates a larger system, adding latency. I'd bet as well that there is some fetching of 'live' quote/retweet/like counts, that probably occurs in some kind of interval.
- ripley12 4y agoNot sure, but I've been experiencing dramatically worse load times on Twitter in the last month or so.
- nine_k 4y agoWhile at it, have you tried nitter.net? It's very handy for opening twitter links on mobile, where I want things to be lightweight.
- throwaway_au_1 4y agoThe only Twitter exposure I have is via HackerNews and that bothered the crap out of me too, so I wrote a dead-simple userscript that is run with ViolentMonkey in Chrome to take me to Nitter instead. The redirect and page load all completes before I would probably even see the loading spinner on Twitter. What a garbage site. https://pastebin.com/ZpgYYF1N https://pastebin.com/ZpgYYF1N
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lordgrenville 4y agoYeah, it's really painful. +1 to all the Nitter recommendations. I use Invidition (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/invidition/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/invidition/) to redirect (Twitter, YouTube) -> (Nitter, Invidious). It also can automatically pick the fastest responding instance, which makes a noticeable difference. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/invidition/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/invidition/
- Qub3d 4y agoFYI, the description of that addon says its unmaintained: "PLEASE READ THIS FIRST ! Invidition is now deprecated and is no longer maintained. Please, use Privacy Redirect by Simon Brazell instead." https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-redirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-redir...
- jonas-w 4y agoCan only recommend libredirect https://libredirect.github.io/ https://libredirect.github.io/
- faanghacker 4y agoShould be "lays off" /grammarnazi
- kgwgk 4y agoJust like the plural of breakdown is breaksdown, the plural or checkup is checksup and the plural of hard-on is hards-on.
- eagsalazar2 4y agoAbsurdly incorrect.
- eagsalazar2 4y agoUnless you are joking in which case - nice one.
- eagsalazar2 4y agoThere is no "should" except what the most influential majority believes is correct. Language naturally evolves all the time and that is a good and beautiful thing. You may have a preference or think this historical norm is interesting, but please stop with the "should" talk, it is irritating, condescending, and incorrect. This particular norm is especially "wrong" (heh) because the overwhelming social majority has already left it behind. Clinging to it just because some academic wrote a book claiming that was correct or because 100 years ago that phrasing was common is especially misguided since for most modern English speakers it isn't just a thing they forget sometimes, but actually sounds wrong and weird to them. By any sane understanding of language that makes them far more correct than you.
- raverbashing 4y agoActually no, it shouldn't. https://www.limlessons.com/en/blog_post/compound-nouns-derived-from-phrasal-verbs https://www.limlessons.com/en/blog_post/compound-nouns-deriv... In this case, "off" is not a preposition, but "lay off" is a phrasal verb
- amir734jj 4y agoMicrosoft employee here. Haven't heard anything. There has been hiring slow down recently, but revenue/customer acquisition is going strong. It's a large company, so probably nothing in my division (azure / backups and disaster recovery).
- mk89 4y agoI doubt you'll hear anything if you work in Azure :) (I don't work at MS but I guess it's a significant piece of their strategy today).
- danielodievich 4y agoI was part of the much bigger proportioned layoff back in 2009 shortly after my second child was born, back when MiniMicrosoft was still posting. I was so upset! BUT! It was actually a great thing that happened to me. I got a big severance, and almost immediately started somewhere else I've been considering with 30% raise and pretty quickly arriving great bonuses. I wish the same to the people laid off, looks like at least a couple of people in that twitter thread are awesome people! ALSO! I went back to Microsoft consulting as a both orange and a purple badge for a number of years, and In 2011 I worked on a super secret project with Microsoft HR helping tune a badly implemented upgrade to the system tracking layoffs, so secret I had to sign a ton of docs just to know it existed. It was eye opening. In organization that size there are always layoffs, some small (like 10 people), some slightly bigger (like 100 people). They were in the height of the Skype integration (aka ripping it to pieces) and so several hundred of scandinavians/estoninans were getting an axe. I fixed the system's perf issues and got out of there asap
- greggsy 4y ago18,000… wow. Did that actually materialise? http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2014/07/18000-microsoft-jobs-gone-eventually.html?m=1 http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2014/07/18000-microsoft-jobs-go...
- science4sail 4y agoYep - I lived through it too and it led to me realizing that there could eventually be a life outside of the MSFT bubble. I think that the vast majority of the impacted employees were in Nokia, but the mothership was also affected - one of our team members simply vanished that day.
- 72f988bf 4y ago> I went back to Microsoft consulting as a both orange and a purple badge Orange badge is for contractors, but purple badge are for dogs: https://twitter.com/juliehubs/status/892459513432858624 https://twitter.com/juliehubs/status/892459513432858624 Was purple used for a different badge type back then? It's either that, or you are an animagus like Sirius Black!
- atdrummond 4y agoThey’ve been letting go quite a bit of their recruiter/HR team the last few weeks - I’ve been watching the damage unfold on LinkedIn. Are they part of this 1000 or separate? (My understanding is many of those roles are backfill contracts which can eventually roll into full time, meaning they were always likely the most insecure.)
- Osmium 4y agoFor people who've been around longer, is it wise to take a new job with a company that's undergoing layoffs?
- petilon 4y agoDepends on the quantity and reason for layoffs. Meta, I would avoid at this time. Microsoft is doing fine, despite this small layoff.
- mathattack 4y agoIn todays market be leery of companies who aren’t showing fiscal restraint. Look more at the strength and market positioning of the company, and don’t join a company whose business you don’t understand. My general observation is some companies use layoffs as a periodic way to get rid of folks without performance reviews. (“Position was eliminated” doesn’t lead to law suits) Also, when companies do multiple rounds, they get less generous on each subsequent round.
- alisonatwork 4y agoEarly in my career I joined a large company right when they went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Worked there for a year, then moved on. They shut down the office where I had worked a year or two after that. I don't regret working there at all. And I doubt Microsoft is even close to the same situation. They employ a couple hundred thousand people, so laying off 1000 is nothing. It's like a 200-headcount company letting go of just one person. Either way, I think it's fine to join a company that is downsizing, since presumably the area you got hired is a department that isn't part of the downsizing. Of course there are horror stories of people who got laid off immediately after getting hired, but that's just bad luck. Most of the time there is a budget for you, or the position wouldn't be advertized in the first place. If you end up doing valuable work on a valuable team, you should be safe from any cuts - and you can ask those questions during the interview process. From my perspective, any job where you get paid to work on something interesting and learn new stuff is worth considering.
- bugbuddy 4y agoYes and no. Yes, because it could demonstrate how much you like the company to be willing to look beyond the immediate-term risk of becoming part of any near future layoffs. Also, it shows that you are brave and confident in your own ability to find another job if it does happen. This could lead to the employer giving you more compensation and benefits to counter the reduction in interest from other candidates. No, it may not be wise because it may result in you actually getting laid off soon after joining or having your offer rescinded 1 hour before start. As a great man once said, it all depends on your risk tolerance.
- datalopers 4y agoThis sounds more like routine housekeeping (<0.5% of employees) than a significant round of layoffs.
- socialismisok 4y agoIt's hundreds of people losing their jobs at once. It doesn't matter what the relative magnitude, it's still hundreds of families dealing with the sudden loss of a job.
- doikor 4y agoBut still very different from thousands people losing their jobs at once (has happened before at Microsoft)
- ftylm 4y agoThey are all ridiculously well-paid, unless they've been terribly mismanaging their finances I'm sure they can deal with it. I will spare my sympathy for those in minimum wage jobs who are suddenly fired and struggling to make ends meet. They are the real victims of our economy.
- PuppyTailWags 4y agoYou don't know them. How many are supporting disabled loved ones via healthcare? How many are disabled themselves? 1 in 4 people live with a disability. A massive loss of jobs is a problem because benefits are tied to jobs.
- sp332 4y agoThey laid off KC Lemson! https://mobile.twitter.com/kclemson/status/1582175419268501504 https://mobile.twitter.com/kclemson/status/15821754192685015... She invented Ninja Cat! She created the Bedlam card game, and she's been there long enough to remember the actual Bedlam incident. https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/inside-bedlam-a-card-game-created-by-a-microsoft-employee-all-about-what-its-like-to-work-there-including-all-the-inside-jokes-and-daily-frustrations/articleshow/73440741.cms https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/inside-bedlam-a-car...
- exsft 4y agoshe was adding no value to the product. (My personal opinion is that) she wasn’t laid off sooner because she’s married to D Lemson who was friends with Terry Myerson. She used to try to stay relevant by sending these long “status emails” to the entire org with no particular goal.
- stuartd 4y agoI don’t have any insight except I follow her on Twitter and a lot of names I recognise are saying very different things from you, like for example Larry Osterman. Maybe you know better.
- smilekzs 4y agoDidn't expect the last bit (Bedlam cards). These were fun.
- joenot443 4y agoIs she an engineer? What kind of contributions had she been making recently? If she’s been there 20 years I imagine her paycheque is enormous, perhaps she just wasn’t worth it anymore. Legacy product people being laid off is a much different signal to me than a company letting go young, versatile engineers.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago> If she’s been there 20 years I imagine her paycheque is enormous On the contrary, she must be extremely cheap. I don't know the details of compensation at Microsoft, but if it's like the other FAANGs (or really any other company), new hires are paid A LOT more than tenured employees.
- dontbenebby 4y ago[flagged]
- aldebran 4y agoI’m hearing they’ve laid off low performers…
- max_ 4y agoWhat's the definition of low performer?
- socialismisok 4y ago"someone you don't want around anymore"
- baq 4y agoThe chief people officer and a couple interns who prepared the list know… so it’ll be something like ‘didn’t get a bonus for X years’
- aldebran 4y agoPeople with “Insufficient results” also known in other places as PIP
- bergenty 4y agoPeople that don’t work
- 4y ago
- lashkhi 4y ago
- mynameisash 4y agoThis sucks for everyone, but clicking on this thread, I see that KC got laid off[0]. She's somewhat famous for having created Bedlam[1], which not only introduced me to a lot of Microsoft culture when I was pretty early in the company but also has provided many hours of amusement when mixed with Cards Against Humanity. FWIW, I'm in E+D but didn't hear anything about this. [0] https://twitter.com/kclemson/status/1582175419268501504 https://twitter.com/kclemson/status/1582175419268501504 [1] https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/inside-bedlam-a-card-game-created-by-a-microsoft-employee-all-about-what-its-like-to-work-there-including-all-the-inside-jokes-and-daily-frustrations/articleshow/73440741.cms https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/inside-bedlam-a-car...
- Arainach 4y agoYeah, I'm shocked. I haven't been at MSFT for a while, but I had the opportunity to work with KC several times and I've never known anyone at any company I've worked at who was more impactful to team culture (in addition to being very good at her job). Layoffs are never good for morale, but losing KC in particular has to be a huge morale hit for the team.
- itbeho 4y agoCan you describe how she was impactful to the culture?
- Arainach 4y agoKC took on the role of morale champion. If she were at Google, she would be the person who invented (or at least posted most actively on) memegen, but with less cynicism. KC was a constant source of jokes and memes on internal mailing lists. She has a very quick wit and could make light of all sorts of internal events. It's hard to call out specific ones without getting into NDA territory, but they spanned the entire gamut of company culture. Because she had experience in so many areas (Office, Outlook, Windows Phone, Windows) she understood the big picture. I believe KC briefly had a stint where part of her job description in the Operating Systems Group was morale/culture, and KC went to town helping to plan events, design and distribute swag, and more. The Ninjacat is her most famous contribution** but there were plenty of others too. KC was the author behind Bedlam, a Microsoft-themed game similar to Cards Against Humanity. This wasn't a lazy retheme - the cards were hilarious in their own right and almost all of them had a funny anecdote at the bottom. Here's a random assortment I drew out of my set (there are probably funnier ones in there, but I haven't played since I left MS so I no longer remember specific ones to dig for): https://i.imgur.com/PMc6I4Y.jpg https://i.imgur.com/PMc6I4Y.jpg KC organized a number of sessions to play Bedlam (and other games). These were open to anyone who responded and I met a number of amazing people through them. At this point in time, I was just an IC dev (mid level or newly minted senior, I forget) while KC was at least a Director, and plenty of other high-tenured folks joined in to those groups. KC created a welcoming environment where seniority (either in title or tenure) didn't matter and everyone felt welcome and like one of the group. I stayed at Microsoft far too long. Financially speaking, I should have left after 2-3 years, and in terms of personal and career growth that probably would have been optimal as well. A bit part of the reason I stayed is because of people like KC. For all the politics of a big company, for all the struggles of working with 20-year old Win32 code, the welcoming effect of KC (and other wexcsul/osgrandom veterans) was incredible. There were other factors too (I was on a team where I got to work closely with a number of very senior amazing engineers who I learned a ton from), but folks like KC (and a few others who aren't as well known externally) were who got me through my cynical periods. **yes, I'm aware that Ninjacat bears some resemblance to previous artwork. As far as I'm aware, that's all been worked out with the author and I forget the details and won't go into it here. Ninjacat wasn't originally intended for external distribution (it just exploded in popularity internally until it couldn't be contained any longer).
- tomcam 4y agoLocal to Microsoft here. Worked there a few decades ago. Every indication I get from people who work there today tells me that they could bleed off 10,000 employees and if it were the right 10,000, the company would be better off afterwards.
- baq 4y agoTrue in every megacorp.
- maest 4y agoReminds me of John Wanamaker's quip re marketing: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half."
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago>if it were the right 10,000, the company would be better off afterwards Doesn't this apply to literally every big-corp? The big-corp I left had so many people doing nothing, it was insane. It was also crazy and sad that those people doing nothing were ironically by far the better paid ones, fact confirmed by the payroll lady.
- groby_b 4y agoIf you have a "payroll lady", you're not working at a big-corp.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago"One of the payroll ladies" for correction. Also, working for a small office of a big corp still counts as working for a big corp. Not every location of a big-corp has thousands of workers.
- kumarvvr 4y agoOnce you reach a certain size, I guess this is true everywhere. About 2 to 3% of employees in any org. will be slacking.
- davidgerard 4y agoWhy not link the original this links to? https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/17/23410148/microsoft-lays-off-nearly-1000-people-across-the-company https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/17/23410148/microsoft-lays-...