1w ago

Microsoft mulls more job cuts, this time focused on managers and non-coders, not just low performers.

htxt.co.za

Managers at risk in latest round of Microsoft layoffs - Hypertext

Microsoft is reportedly considering another round of layoffs next month.
While the number of jobs at risk is unknown, reports suggest Microsoft will be cutting the number of managers in its employ.
Low performing workers are also reportedly on the chopping block.

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1w ago

Microsoft mulls more job cuts, this time focused on managers and non-coders, not just low performers.

htxt.co.za /2025/04/managers-at-risk-in-latest-round-of-microsoft-layoffs/

13 comments

It's not often discussed that Microsoft, Amazon, and other 'very cool' tech companies still practice this 80s firing the bottom 10% bull.. It has nothing with being a low performer, but everything to do with culling jobs indiscriminately and creating an in/out culture. Managers are forced to place employees into bottom performance slots, sometimes arbitrarily, so that teams/groups/departments fit the bell curve nicely. Then, people get fired, bonuses go out, and everything is peachy at the end of the fiscal yesr.
Let that stew for a few years and these behemoths are factories of pet projects and crunch culture. Your long-timers are either golden performers who've seen massive churn and project turbulance OR they're climbers, willing to step on top of anyone or burn any project to climb the ladder or at least keep their spots.
- Can confirm. Spent a few years at M$, almost got culled by the stacked ranking crap. I left before they could wreck my career.
- Microsoft got rid of that in 2014 or so, when Nadella took over.
  
  Sort of. Managers still get in a room and decide how the bonus pool should be distributed by ranking people.
  Having a more aggressive manager is important for getting a better bonus.
  I could see this factoring into layoff decisions.
- Managers are latter. They don't do much work or deliver any work that is critical to the company to operate. They are very good at corporate speak and climbing.

Explains well why all of their products are becoming shittier by the day.
Really happy I moved over to Linux.

At this rate we‘ll have fully automated companies going full slob by the end of the decade. Their customers? Probably also AI bots. If any.
- Agentic AI bots “vibe coding” for other agentic AI bots, what could go wrong?

Just for funsies
- For extra fun, the work they do doesn't disappear, it just gets foisted on whomever remains. You get the benefit of doing your job and someone else's with no pay increase
- Because they don’t have enough money

13 comments