For all intents and purposes, the job cuts announced this past week by Microsoft should not have caught anyone by surprise. It is one of the first things to happen following a major merger.
The announcements do not say outright, “…and with this merger, we will cut X-number of jobs,” rather, the language is more nuanced, if not less obvious, “…and with the efficiencies to be gained in this deal.”
It stands to ask though if the cuts are being made in the right places, however. Of the 18,000-ish jobs to be cut over the next year or so, a full two-thirds of these “efficiencies” (or synergies, harmonization, cost-savings – pick a nom de guerre for layoffs) will impact people who were part of Nokia Devices and Services, which as we all know, was acquired by Microsoft. That accounts for a little more than half of the employees who did a veritable #maketheswitch (from Nokia to Microsoft, see what we did there?).
It is times like this, it could be said, where it helps to perhaps not attract attention to oneself while the final tally is being run up of who to keep, and who to let go. Sadly, the trawler will scoop up a lot of former Nokia positions no matter what people do. The Microsoft employees have a different perspective. Movement attracts the watching eye you see, and so if some folks remain very, very still…
Maxwell Ramsey has made significant contributions to PhoneArena through his detailed reporting on technology policy and advancements, such as wireless charging standards and FCC regulations, helping demystify complex topics for a broad readership.
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