22 Jul Microsoft’s layoff letter crosses some boundaries
As Microsoft moves from PC software to cloud-based products, it needs a leaner structure. Inadvertently then, a few months down the line with Satya Nadella as CEO, the company has decided to engage in its biggest layoff ever.
About 18000 Microsoft employees will lose their jobs over the next 1 year.
This massive layoff was announced via a horrifying email that ran into reams of content with a slight mention of the real reason it was sent out. The letter by former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has left employees, HR pros, writers and believers of humanity fuming. For those who have not had a chance to go through it, it’s a long drawn letter that talks about the future of Microsoft and how they plan to take it to the next level. It’s a classic case of black humor when this mass mail is meant for employees who will be left with no job in hand soon after reading this email.
In a 1,111-worded email starting with a heartbreaking ‘Hello There’, this email will stay in the annals of history as an example of poor business writing. To start with, there are 4 paragraphs of Microsoft motivational talk and technical jargon before it finally comes down to the point. And another 2 paragraphs before the email finally says, “We expect these changes to have an impact to our team structure”.
The Microsoft letter that announced laying off 12,500 people over the next one year did not delve on words like ‘regret’, ‘unfortunate’ or ‘concern’. Instead, there were words like ‘success’ and ‘future’, which would not ring a bell with employees who were being laid off.
Clearly, Microsoft has a long way to go with its HR policy. in general as well, it would be nice if companies have a stricter code of conduct when it comes to their human resource.
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