3 ms·

Perhaps one or more of the following: 0. They want to reduce labor costs in the short term. 1. They think some projects will not produce value in the near or

Perhaps one or more of the following: 0. They want to reduce labor costs in the short term. 1. They think some projects will not produce value in the near or long term, so they are canceling those projects and laying off the people who work on them. 2. They want to reduce salaries in the near and long term. (Fire at high salary, rehire at low if needed.) 3. They got a big tax bill due to the changes in R&D amortization. 4. They believe they can automate existing jobs and/or replace them with AI. Layoffs usually destroy business value.[1,2] In this case I expect MS might be betting on reduced labor costs (including taxes) in the short term followed by salary reduction and automation in the near and long term. [1] https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-companies-still-get-wrong-about-layoffs https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-companies-still-get-wrong-about... [2] https://www.inc.com/nick-hobson/according-to-this-stanford-professor-mass-layoffs-destroy-businesses-why-are-they-still-happening.html https://www.inc.com/nick-hobson/according-to-this-stanford-p...

gumballindie 4y ago
> 4. They believe they can automate existing jobs and/or replace them with AI. Yawn. It's more about disciplining the workforce.
- musicale 4y ago
  It's always about disciplining the workforce. This doesn't necessarily serve the bottom line, but it does serve the status hierarchy, and we all know who is in charge. But the question is: why now? Is it because workers are having more autonomy from working at home, etc.? Is it because they fear unionization or some sort of worker rebellion? And what reason is there to believe that automation won't continue to happen, as it has for the past 40 years for a variety of office jobs?
  - gumballindie 4y ago
    Automation will continue to happen, but what you are seeing now is due to a mix of reasons unrelated to a chat bot. Over hiring, inflation (suddenly not a main topic, was replaced by ai scare mongering it seems), bad politics, interest rate hikes, crappy products, and a handful of other reasons, none of which are "ai".
    - musicale 4y ago
      > a handful of other reasons, none of which are "ai". "IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35780706 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35780706

gumballindie 4y ago

> 4. They believe they can automate existing jobs and/or replace them with AI. Yawn. It's more about disciplining the workforce.

musicale 4y ago
It's always about disciplining the workforce. This doesn't necessarily serve the bottom line, but it does serve the status hierarchy, and we all know who is in charge. But the question is: why now? Is it because workers are having more autonomy from working at home, etc.? Is it because they fear unionization or some sort of worker rebellion? And what reason is there to believe that automation won't continue to happen, as it has for the past 40 years for a variety of office jobs?
- gumballindie 4y ago
  Automation will continue to happen, but what you are seeing now is due to a mix of reasons unrelated to a chat bot. Over hiring, inflation (suddenly not a main topic, was replaced by ai scare mongering it seems), bad politics, interest rate hikes, crappy products, and a handful of other reasons, none of which are "ai".
  - musicale 4y ago
    > a handful of other reasons, none of which are "ai". "IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35780706 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35780706