bizarroworld..... (yes i realize a lot of the 18k are finns with Nokia but the MS practice of replacing well-establish (err....expensive) engineers with cheap, young Asian talent is well known in the industry)
Microsoft cuts 18,000 jobs as part of its largest layoff ever
Microsoft today announced that it's cutting 18,000 jobs, the biggest round of layoffs in its history, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts. In a release, the company says that Nokia's Devices and Services business, which it acquired for $5 billion last year, will be most affected, with 12,500 "professional and factory positions" expected to go by the end of the year. In an email to employees, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explains that the company's new strategy is designed to make it "more agile" moving forward, allowing teams to work more freely.Nadella also hinted that Microsoft could end development of Nokia's Android-powered X smartphones by shifting "select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows." As for the Xbox and Surface divisions, they'll see "limited change," as the company intends to continue building on plans it implemented earlier in the year. Nadella believes today's cuts will go some way towards helping Microsoft realign itself, allowing it to pursue its goal of innovating both in mobile and the cloud.
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Bill Gates says the United States' position as the global leader in innovation is at risk.
The Microsoft chairman says there is a deficit of Americans with computer-science degrees, and he wants the government to make it easier for Microsoft to hire foreign-born workers.
Gates testified before the House Committee on Science Technology on Wednesday about what he sees as a need to liberalize rules for H1-B visas for skilled foreign workers.Currently, Congress has set an annual limit on H1-Bs at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 earmarked for foreign students with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.The quota for H1-B visas filled up immediately last April — leaving June graduates stuck with no recourse but to find work in other countries.Critics say H1-B workers take jobs away from Americans and that tech companies would find Americans to take these jobs if the salaries were higher.Microsoft recently opened an office in Vancouver, Canada — where it can station high-skilled workers who can't legally work in the U.S.There, Gates tells Robert Siegel, the government welcomes "not only those people for these high-paying jobs, but the four or five jobs we create around each of those engineers."Gates says that the good news is that Microsoft is hiring people in the United States at a rapid rate, which allows the company to do more research and increase employment."The thing that limits us is hiring the world's best engineers," he says, noting that 60 percent of the students at the top U.S. computer-science departments are foreign-born."Traditionally, most of them stay in the country and jobs are created around them. Now that we've hit these quotas, they have to go somewhere else," Gates says
Microsoft cuts 18,000 jobs as part of its largest layoff ever
Microsoft today announced that it's cutting 18,000 jobs, the biggest round of layoffs in its history, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts. In a release, the company says that Nokia's Devices and Services business, which it acquired for $5 billion last year, will be most affected, with 12,500 "professional and factory positions" expected to go by the end of the year. In an email to employees, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explains that the company's new strategy is designed to make it "more agile" moving forward, allowing teams to work more freely.Nadella also hinted that Microsoft could end development of Nokia's Android-powered X smartphones by shifting "select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows." As for the Xbox and Surface divisions, they'll see "limited change," as the company intends to continue building on plans it implemented earlier in the year. Nadella believes today's cuts will go some way towards helping Microsoft realign itself, allowing it to pursue its goal of innovating both in mobile and the cloud.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Bill Gates says the United States' position as the global leader in innovation is at risk.
The Microsoft chairman says there is a deficit of Americans with computer-science degrees, and he wants the government to make it easier for Microsoft to hire foreign-born workers.
Gates testified before the House Committee on Science Technology on Wednesday about what he sees as a need to liberalize rules for H1-B visas for skilled foreign workers.Currently, Congress has set an annual limit on H1-Bs at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 earmarked for foreign students with advanced degrees from U.S. universities.The quota for H1-B visas filled up immediately last April — leaving June graduates stuck with no recourse but to find work in other countries.Critics say H1-B workers take jobs away from Americans and that tech companies would find Americans to take these jobs if the salaries were higher.Microsoft recently opened an office in Vancouver, Canada — where it can station high-skilled workers who can't legally work in the U.S.There, Gates tells Robert Siegel, the government welcomes "not only those people for these high-paying jobs, but the four or five jobs we create around each of those engineers."Gates says that the good news is that Microsoft is hiring people in the United States at a rapid rate, which allows the company to do more research and increase employment."The thing that limits us is hiring the world's best engineers," he says, noting that 60 percent of the students at the top U.S. computer-science departments are foreign-born."Traditionally, most of them stay in the country and jobs are created around them. Now that we've hit these quotas, they have to go somewhere else," Gates says
