4 ms·

As someone starting at Microsoft in the near future, should this make me worried?

tdicola 12y ago
No, MS isn't in dire straits that they need to start letting the lowest guys on the totem pole go. For the first couple years focus on being the best employee possible and making your manager's life easier. Don't shy away from doing the boring, ugly grunt work that no one else wants to do. You need to establish yourself as a reliable performer.
- eru 12y ago
  Also, never forget that there are other companies around.
TallGuyShort 12y ago
It should make you cautious and curious. A few years ago I accepted an offer from a large company who announced massive layoffs in the near future. I contacted my recruiter and asked if this affected my offer and they said no. I later pushed them for more details about who I would report to, if I could speak with a member of the team, what I should do to prepare, and what I would work on. They were very closed about all this and hard to contact. Eventually I found out the entire department was gone and I was going to work on mobile apps and web pages instead of highly scalable backend infrastructure and distributed databases. I also found out they had intentionally hid this from me, so I immediately told them I would not join the company. I don't share this to scare you or suggest Microsoft would do the same, but understand that you are entitled to have your questions about your standing with the company answered. Pay attention to who they let go, and question how well that bodes for your goals at the company. If they can't or won't help you understand this, understand the risk you're taking. As I've said elsewhere in this thread, layoffs can be a sign the company is doing what it needs to for the future if it's done correctly.
- TallGuyShort 12y ago
  One other thing I would add to this is that I believe there are legal problems if they were to revoke a job offer in a situation like this (what I heard - IANAL). Keep in mind that an obligation to still hire you may mean you're walking into a situation where they no longer wanted to hire you. In my case, people I went to for advice kept pointing out that if the company was making such a drastic cut of their engineering staff, they shouldn't have been hiring less-experienced employees anyway. That doesn't seem to be the case in Microsoft's specific situation with Nokia, though.
  - anoothrowaway 12y ago
    Well the good news is that right before I was about to write emails to my recruiter and old boss, I got emails from them saying that all is well with my current placement. What a relief!

No, MS isn't in dire straits that they need to start letting the lowest guys on the totem pole go. For the first couple years focus on being the best employee possible and making your manager's life easier. Don't shy away from doing the boring, ugly grunt work that no one else wants to do. You need to establish yourself as a reliable performer.

eru 12y ago
Also, never forget that there are other companies around.

TallGuyShort 12y ago

It should make you cautious and curious. A few years ago I accepted an offer from a large company who announced massive layoffs in the near future. I contacted my recruiter and asked if this affected my offer and they said no. I later pushed them for more details about who I would report to, if I could speak with a member of the team, what I should do to prepare, and what I would work on. They were very closed about all this and hard to contact. Eventually I found out the entire department was gone and I was going to work on mobile apps and web pages instead of highly scalable backend infrastructure and distributed databases. I also found out they had intentionally hid this from me, so I immediately told them I would not join the company. I don't share this to scare you or suggest Microsoft would do the same, but understand that you are entitled to have your questions about your standing with the company answered. Pay attention to who they let go, and question how well that bodes for your goals at the company. If they can't or won't help you understand this, understand the risk you're taking. As I've said elsewhere in this thread, layoffs can be a sign the company is doing what it needs to for the future if it's done correctly.

TallGuyShort 12y ago
One other thing I would add to this is that I believe there are legal problems if they were to revoke a job offer in a situation like this (what I heard - IANAL). Keep in mind that an obligation to still hire you may mean you're walking into a situation where they no longer wanted to hire you. In my case, people I went to for advice kept pointing out that if the company was making such a drastic cut of their engineering staff, they shouldn't have been hiring less-experienced employees anyway. That doesn't seem to be the case in Microsoft's specific situation with Nokia, though.
- anoothrowaway 12y ago
  Well the good news is that right before I was about to write emails to my recruiter and old boss, I got emails from them saying that all is well with my current placement. What a relief!