back to article Microsoft's axeman Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has brought down his axe again, sending off the next batch of the 18,000 employees he has promised will lose their jobs by the end of the year. The Redmond supremo issued about 2,100 pink slips on Thursday, the Seattle Times reports, bringing the total number of layoffs to approximately 15,100 and …

  1. Bob Vistakin
    Facepalm

    It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

    Can we have it back now please?

    1. Cliff

      Re: It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

      Poor taste, that's a lot of families going to have a harder Christmas this year.

      1. keithpeter Silver badge
        Windows

        Re: It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

        I may be naive but I imagine any with solid technical skills will find employment reasonably quickly.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

          Will they get a nice (or any) payout?

          But let's face it, they've been lucky to have lasted this long. MS have destroyed Nokia via Elop by making them bet the farm.

      2. VinceH
        Coat

        Re: It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

        "Poor taste, that's a lot of families going to have a harder Christmas this year."

        My heart goes out to anyone who receives a Windows 8 device this Christmas, and finds it hard going due to the lack of a start menu.

        Even poorer taste, I know.

        But irresistible, nonetheless.

      3. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        Windows

        Robespierrella!

        Poor taste, that's a lot of families going to have a harder Christmas this year.

        Microsoft is not in the business of giving people happy Christmas memories.

        In truth, if the Next Big Crash comes before Christmas, then ...

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Trollface

        Re: It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

        Oh Microsoft have inflicted misery on millions over the decades, this is a drop in the ocean!

      5. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: It took 18,000 employees to remove a start menu

        "Poor taste, that's a lot of families going to have a harder Christmas this year."

        Luckily that won't be an issue for most Microsoft employees who are largely cheap rate imported heathens from India, etc. so don't believe in Christmas....

  2. Mark 85

    Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

    Some sort of ISIS (or whatever their name is today) reference to grab headline attention on Google News?

    <sigh> Yes, there's the name for recruiters -- headhunters. Yes.. there's terminating, axing, etc. for firing, but it's a job, not a head. With all the ISIS crap floating about, I would have thought El Reg wouldn't jump into the Murdoch style headline business.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

      I'm not being funny but we all knew they weren't literally being decapitated.

      1. Zed Zee

        Re: Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

        Nobody's that stupid. The point being made was that it was just poor headline taste, considering some journalists really ARE being decapitated.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Paris Hilton

          Re: Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

          > considering some journalists really ARE being decapitated

          Yeah, but on the other hand, civilians are being hellfired and droned to death, so I suppose we can no longer talk about "going to hell" and "the manager's continuous, mindless droning?"

        2. Mark 85

          Re: Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

          You hit the nail on the head and not just because of the journalists. The headline really smacked of one of Murdoch's enterprises.

    2. Ken Darling

      Re: Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

      So, we're not allowed to speak in metaphor any longer, just because of some crackpot extremists?

      That means I can't call you an arsehole.

    3. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Nadella fills baskets with 2,100 fresh heads ?

      Sir,

      Your suggestion that the headline was optimized for search engines so as to nestle the story within coverage of a bloodstained medieval terror campaign is, to use a technical term within the industry, complete cobblers.

      Respectfully yours,

      C.

  3. Brian Miller

    Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

    Ballmer went on an acquisition spree, since Microsoft can't innovate. Microsoft bought Nokia, allegedly for its cell phone expertise. Now they lay off practically the entirety of Nokia, plus good chunks of their own US operations. Huawei dumped Microsoft phones due to poor sales.

    Spend lots of money buying stuff, lay off lots of people, ???, profit.

    Well, the profit is, of course, from Windows OS, Office, cell phone patents, and never from cell phones themselves.

    1. Anonymous Bullard

      Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

      Microsoft bought Nokia, allegedly for its cell phone expertise

      No. Nokia put all it's eggs in one basket (WP), and failed. Since Nokia is (for all intents and purposes) the only Windows phone manufacturer (and their only chance of being saved was Android) MS simply had to snatch Nokia's mobile division.

      If you think WP's market-share is small now, imagine what it would have been like it Nokia went under?

      1. Bob Vistakin
        Facepalm

        Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

        Sigh.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

      Xbox losses are covered by cellphone patents (xbox loses 2bn a year, patents earn that).

      Most of the patents turned out to be crap, the few that weren't expire very soon.

      Time to drop the xbox moneypit and windows phone disaster. Shareholders are shouting the same. The madness cant carry on.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

        "xbox loses 2bn a year, patents earn that"

        Xbox One might currently be in negative territory versus R&D and launch costs, but the Xbox 360 become profitable long ago:

        http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/126085/Microsofts_Xbox_360_Division_Sees_132_Billion_Profit_For_Fiscal_Year_2011.php

        Versus 50 million active Xbox Live subscriptions, 6 million Xbox Ones sold already and a much higher attach rate than the PS4, it's clear that the Xbox One is going to be another cash cow too...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

          That's cherrypicked accounting, it's main aim to to brainwash idiots keen to believe. You can keep your gaming website "news". Here is some businesses news.

          http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-earns-2-billion-per-year-from-android-patent-royalties-2013-11

          or if you don't like to read business websites:

          http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-11-07-huge-xbox-losses-hidden-by-patent-royalties-says-analyst

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

        Time to drop the xbox moneypit and windows phone disaster

        For all the money we're throwing at them for Windows/Office, I wish they'd spend it on making them actually usable - but I guess they don't care about that because they know we have to use them, no matter how shite they are.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Something about garden gnomes, ???, profit

      "Spend lots of money buying stuff, lay off lots of people, ???, profit."

      No. Spend lots of money, lay off the peasants, write off losses.

      Like MS did with Aquantive, which involved MS' bungling executives writing off over $6bn in a failed attempt to become Google2 (and the axe for 2,600 Aquantive employees). The Nokia gamble is a destined-for-failure attempt to be Apple2. They spent $1.2bn on the Yammer social networking platform a couple of years back in an attempt to be Facebook2 - that "investment" must be due for writedown and mass sackings by now. $8bn on Skype to become who knows what, and that looks to be a profitless investment, with the commoditisation of VOIP clients and the change of VOIP users from voice to IM.

      Who's on the up, and might Microsoft hope to be next year? If we can suss that then we just go long on the likely target, and sell out as soon as the bid is made. They've just blown the fat end of $3bn on Minecraft, which is staggering - buying the IP of one crap game without even the drive of the creator.

  4. ecofeco Silver badge

    Same old story

    If you are the wrong side of any merger, you will be fired.

    Been there, done that, got the scars. Many scars.

  5. Cryo

    A difficult economic climate...

    "Sorry guys, but due to current market conditions, we can no longer afford to keep you on our staff. We value you as employees, and have tried everything in our power to retain your positions, but the money just isn't there. As a parting gift, feel free to pick up a free copy of Minecraft as you exit the front door."

  6. earl grey
    FAIL

    so MS is giving up all its H1B visa requests

    Didn't think so.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What to do when a bloated whale corporation is no longer ..

    ... capable of developing and bringing innovative products to market?

    Fire all of 50 people in R&D. Because 50 people in R&D, that's where your bottom line is.

  8. largefile

    You guys are too much with your tired anti Microsoft venom. Microsoft is probably going to be around long after most of you are pushing walkers in the rest home.

    In case you guys don't read anything but your own rantings....take a gander at just about any financial pages and read a little about how well Satya Nadella's new direction is being received.

    MS got 32,000 new employees in the Nokia acquisition. Did anyone really expect them all to remain? Only 4700 of those employees were in Finland. The rest were involved in manufacturing.

    MS will continue to improve on all facets and find a new mojo. Windows 9 will convince Win 7 and Win 8 people to upgrade, XP will finally die and then Windows 10 will be huge. You read it here first folks.

    1. Alain

      One good, one bad

      Based on recent history, I'd say that ``Windows 9 will convince Win 7 and Win 8 people to upgrade, XP will finally die and then'' ... Windows 10 will be another massive failure :)

    2. TheOtherHobbes

      Wall St loves job cuts. Costs go down, profits go up, shareholders are happy.

      When the wheels fall off, shareholders can dump the stock.

      Employees are the ones who have to sleep with the corpse until the funeral is over.

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Perfect description

        We have seen it before with the likes of DEC/Compaq/HP and a few dozen other companies.

        The perennial CEO problem. When their flagship product isn't selling very well the have to do something to appease the likes of Wall St. so they cut headcount. At leasy they can be seen to be doing something.

        The problem for Microsoft (and others) is how they can release a product that will bring back the days of Windows-95 where people queued for the boxed containing the release.

        Sataya must be looking at the iPhone 6 launch and wishing how he could shift 6 million Surface 3's in a week. That would take the pressue on headcount off his shoulders.

        Sadly his response will be to go and buy a few more companies that will only pad out their headcount meaning that they will have to go through it all again in a few months times.

    3. Lostintranslation

      Is that you Steve? I thought you had retired?

    4. Nuke
      Holmes

      @ largefile

      Wrote :- "MS got 32,000 new employees in the Nokia acquisition. Did anyone really expect them all to remain?

      No.

  9. vee Hybrid

    How many have gone in the UK?

    Would be interested to know how many jobs have gone in the UK?

    Are we to be plagued by spotty faced MCSE/MCITPs pledging loyalty to Citrix and VMware.

    Turncoats getting a taste of their own medicine, some would say.

  10. Lostintranslation

    Let's hope one of them is the c**t who signed off on Windows 8.

    1. DJV Silver badge

      Steven Sinofsky's already left!

  11. The Godfather
    Joke

    Religious overtones.....

    With twelve on the Board, I wonder which meeting will be the last supper...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    time to sell Xbox ?

    Its now pretty much worthless even on home turf.

    http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2014/09/18/ps4-sales-in-america-and-asia-go-through-the-roof/

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