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I see that this is being spun as part of the larger layoffs at Microsoft in general, but make no mistake, this is highly unusual for an institution as distingui
by arjunnarayan 12y ago
I see that this is being spun as part of the larger layoffs at Microsoft in general, but make no mistake, this is highly unusual for an institution as distinguished and well respected as Microsoft Research (both internally at Microsoft, and externally amongst academia in general)
I think there is much more under the surface than is visible here. We'll have to wait for the official PR story from Microsoft (which I'm sure will clarify nothing at all). But for now I remain puzzled at this move.
- rtkwe 12y agoThis isn't their only lab location though. Microsoft Research isn't going away, just what's probably one of their more expensive locations.
- hga 12y agoYeah, as quoted in the article, a "Microsoft spokesperson" said they were consolidating west coast labs, and before that, a sign that they don't want to lose some of these people: "[Confirms the report] and noted that an undisclosed number of those researchers will be offered jobs at other Microsoft Research labs."
- ZanyProgrammer 12y agoI think there's something intangible though, about having some research presence in the middle of Silicon Valley.
- nobodysfool 12y agoThe 'intangibles' you speak of are housing and money.
- tdicola 12y agoI imagine it's tough to be a small division away from the mothership in Seattle. If they aren't constantly making their presence and existence known it's probably easy for execs to write them off as not performing.