Microsoft to slash 5,000 jobs

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Microsoft to slash 5,000 jobs, misses on 2Q profit

REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it is cutting 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, a sign of how badly even the biggest and richest companies are being stung by the recession.

The layoffs appear to be a first for Microsoft, which was founded in 1975, aside from relatively limited staff cuts the software company made after acquiring companies.

The company announced the cuts as it reported an 11 percent drop in second-quarter profit, which fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Microsoft shares plunged 7 percent in pre-market trading.

Microsoft said it was being hurt by deteriorating global economic conditions and lower revenue from software for PCs. The holiday quarter of 2008 was the worst the PC market had seen in several years.

The Redmond-based company says profit slipped to $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, from year-ago earnings of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents per share.

It says total revenue edged up 2 percent to $16.63 billion, as software for corporate computer servers helped offset an 8 percent drop in revenue for PC software.

The results missed Wall Street's forecast for earnings of 49 cents per share on sales of $17.08 billion.

Microsoft says the job cuts will reduce operating costs by $1.5 billion as it prepares for lower revenue and earnings in the second half of the year. The company says it is unable to offer profit and revenue guidance for the rest of the year, because of the market volatility.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/earns_microsoft

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There goes their argument about needing MORE H1B visas, huh? :roll: Wonder how many of those laid off will be visa holders aka cheap labor? :evil:

"The Redmond-based company says profit slipped to $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, from year-ago earnings of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents per share. "


5000 families get screwed so Gates can kiss up to his masters on Wall Street and demand more cheap alien labor.

Bill Gates just told congress that American workers couldnt be found to fill positions and they needed foreign workers. WHAT A BOLD FACED LIAR. :evil:

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WHAT A BOLD FACED LIAR.

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Exactly.

I mean the hits keep comming don't they? 1,000 here 7,000 there .....I swear there's some un-real number about every hour of the next round of lay-offs. :roll: :evil:

So will 5000 India Visa people that JUST got hired there be sent home?

January 23, 2009

Microsoft cuts draw criticism on visa issue
P-I STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley told Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer that U.S. employees must have priority over immigrants working under visa programs in a round of job cuts announced Thursday.

Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, asked Ballmer how many of the jobs cut will include those with H-1B visas or other immigrant-worker credentials, according to a letter dated Thursday on Grassley's Web site.

"During a layoff, companies should not be retaining H-1B or other work visa program employees over qualified American workers," the Iowa senator said in the letter. "Our immigration policy is not intended to harm the American work force."

Microsoft plans to cut as many as 5,000 jobs in the first companywide layoffs for the Redmond-based software maker. Technology companies such as Microsoft have lobbied lawmakers for additional visas for foreign workers, saying they wanted to make up for a shortage of qualified engineers.

"We are reviewing the letter and will respond to Senator Grassley promptly," Ginny Terzano, a Microsoft spokeswoman, said Friday in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told a Senate committee in March that there shouldn't be a limit to H-1B visas. Lifting the limit would help make the U.S. more competitive, he said.

Wall Street analysts largely echoed sentiments expressed in a conference call Thursday that Microsoft should have cut more.

"We believe that actions announced ... do not go far enough and lead us to believe that the company is de-emphasizing margins in the near-term, inflaming investor concerns," wrote Sid Parakh of McAdams Wright Ragen.

Sarah Friar of Goldman Sachs wrote: "We are encouraged by the elimination of 5,000 positions and by management's new focus on efficiency and resource allocation. Given the extreme caution on the environment, however, and continued hiring to offset much of the headcount reduction, we believe there may be more to do on the cost side."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com