WebProNews

Category: HRProNews

HRProNews

  • Disney Is Cutting 7,000 Jobs

    Disney Is Cutting 7,000 Jobs

    Disney CEO Bob Iger announced 7,000 jobs cuts at the company amid ongoing issues with profitability.

    Disney has been struggling to cut costs and increase profitability, instituting hiring freezes and even bringing back Bob Iger as CEO. Disney+ has been a big drain on the company, wracking up $1.5 billion in losses for the company recently.

    Those losses appear to be adding up, with Iger announcing the company will be laying off 7,000 employees, according to The Los Angeles Times.

    “While this is necessary to address the challenges we’re facing today, I do not make this decision lightly,” Iger said in a conference call with analysts. “I have enormous respect and appreciation for the talent and dedication of our employees worldwide, and I’m mindful of the personal impact of these changes.”

    Iger acknowledged the company may have been a bit too aggressive with its Disney+ pricing, setting itself up for losses.

    “In our zeal to go after subscribers, I think we might have gotten a bit too aggressive in terms of our promotion,” Iger said.

  • Zoom Is Laying Off 1,300 Employees

    Zoom Is Laying Off 1,300 Employees

    The poser-child for pandemic-fueled growth is joining the long list of companies letting employees go, with Zoom announcing 1,300 layoffs.

    CEO Eric S. Yuan announced the layoffs in a blog post:

    Over the past few years, Zoom has become an indispensable source of connection for businesses and individuals as well as a globally recognized brand. Whether you have been at Zoom since the beginning or joined us more recently, you’ve played an important role in our evolution, and that makes today’s announcement particularly difficult. We have made the tough but necessary decision to reduce our team by approximately 15% and say goodbye to around 1,300 hardworking, talented colleagues.

    Like almost every other tech CEO, Yuan blames explosive growth during the pandemic, followed by a dramatically different economy in recent months:

    We built Zoom to remove the friction that businesses felt when collaborating. Our trajectory was forever changed during the pandemic when the world faced one of its toughest challenges, and I am proud of the way we mobilized as a company to keep people connected. To make this possible, we needed to staff up rapidly to support the quick rise of users on our platform and their evolving needs. Within 24 months, Zoom grew 3x in size to manage this demand while enabling continued innovation.

    We worked tirelessly and made Zoom better for our customers and users. But we also made mistakes. We didn’t take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably, toward the highest priorities.

    As the world transitions to life post-pandemic, we are seeing that people and businesses continue to rely on Zoom. But the uncertainty of the global economy, and its effect on our customers, means we need to take a hard – yet important – look inward to reset ourselves so we can weather the economic environment, deliver for our customers and achieve Zoom’s long-term vision.

    The company will offer US-based employees 16 weeks salary, as well as health coverage. The company will also pay FY23 annual bonuses and receive outplacement assistance.

  • Dell Laying Off 5% of Its Workforce

    Dell Laying Off 5% of Its Workforce

    Dell is joining the ranks of companies laying off employees, with plans to let 5% of its workforce go.

    Like many PC manufacturers, Dell was flying high during the pandemic, thanks to unprecedented demand for computers. Post-pandemic, however, demand has come crashing down, bringing Dell and other manufacturers with it.

    In a regulatory filing, the company announced plans to lay off 5% of its workforce, or roughly 6,600 employees.

    On February 6, 2023, Dell Technologies Inc. (the “Company”) announced to its employees reorganizations and actions to align its investments more closely with its previously discussed strategic and customer priorities. These actions will result in a reduction of approximately 5% of the Company’s workforce as the Company continues to take prudent steps in light of a challenging global economic environment.

    In a letter to employees, Vice Chairman and Co-COO Jeff Clarke, promised that impacted employees will be supported by the company as they move on to other opportunities.

    What we know is market conditions continue to erode with an uncertain future. The steps we’ve taken to stay ahead of downturn impacts – which enabled several strong quarters in a row – are no longer enough. We now have to make additional decisions to prepare for the road ahead.

    Unfortunately, with changes like this, some members of our team will be leaving the company. There is no tougher decision, but one we had to make for our long-term health and success. Please know we’ll support those impacted as they transition to their next opportunities.

  • Activision Blizzard Will Pay $35M Fine Over Multiple Violations

    Activision Blizzard Will Pay $35M Fine Over Multiple Violations

    Activision Blizzard has reached an agreement with the SEC to pay a $35 million fine over disclosure controls and whistleblower violations.

    Activision Blizzard faced multiple accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct that went on for some time, with CEO Bobby Kotick accused of knowing about the issues, but choosing to ignore them. The SEC also accused the company of lacking the necessary disclosure controls to properly ascertain the scope of the issue.

    According to the SEC’s order, between 2018 and 2021, Activision Blizzard was aware that its ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees was a particularly important risk in its business, but it lacked controls and procedures among its separate business units to collect and analyze employee complaints of workplace misconduct. As a result, the company’s management lacked sufficient information to understand the volume and substance of employee complaints about workplace misconduct and did not assess whether any material issues existed that would have required public disclosure.

    In addition to its lack of necessary disclosure controls, Activision Blizzard is accused of violating whistleblower protection laws over a period of more than five years.

    Separately, the SEC’s order finds that, between 2016 and 2021, Activision Blizzard executed separation agreements in the ordinary course of its business that violated a Commission whistleblower protection rule by requiring former employees to provide notice to the company if they received a request for information from the Commission’s staff.

    As part of its settlement, the company has agreed to pay a $35 million fine.

    “The SEC’s order finds that Activision Blizzard failed to implement necessary controls to collect and review employee complaints about workplace misconduct, which left it without the means to determine whether larger issues existed that needed to be disclosed to investors,” said Jason Burt, Director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office. “Moreover, taking action to impede former employees from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation is not only bad corporate governance, it is illegal.”

  • FedEx Is Reducing Its Management Team by More Than 10%

    FedEx Is Reducing Its Management Team by More Than 10%

    FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam has announced plans to lay off more than 10% of the company’s “officer and director team.”

    FedEx has been struggling to maintain profitability as things have returned to normal. With more people shopping in person in the waning days of the pandemic, shipping demand has dropped considerably.

    In order to adapt to the changing market, Subramaniam informed the company that cuts were coming.

    As you know, we have embarked on a transformation effort to create the world’s most flexible, efficient, and intelligent supply chain for our customers. This process is critical to ensure we remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment, and it requires some difficult decisions.

    Today we are in the process of informing a number of team members across our global enterprise that their positions have been eliminated as we reduce the size of our officer and director team by more than 10% and consolidate some teams and functions.

    The CEO said the company’s HR team would be in contact with the impacted employees to help with “outplacement services, benefits, and severance compensation.”

  • PayPal Is Laying Off 2,000 of Its Workforce

    PayPal Is Laying Off 2,000 of Its Workforce

    PayPal has announced it is laying off roughly 2,000 employees, representing approximately 7% of its staff.

    PayPal has been working over the last couple of years to transform its business to adapt to changes in the technological and business landscape. The company has explored the possibility of stock-trading platform, and added support for cryptocurrency.

    In a company announcement, President and CEO Dan Schulman painted the layoffs as the next — albeit unfortunate — step in the company’s transformation.

    Addressing these changes requires us to make hard decisions that will impact some of our colleagues. Today, I’m writing to share the difficult news that we will be reducing our global workforce by approximately 2,000 full time employees, which is about 7% of our total workforce. These reductions will occur over the coming weeks, with some organizations impacted more than others. We will treat our departing colleagues with the utmost respect and empathy, provide them with generous packages, engage in consultation where required, and support them with their transitions. I want to express my personal appreciation for the meaningful contributions they have made to PayPal.

  • EV Startup Arrival Appoints New CEO, Lays Off 50% of Staff

    EV Startup Arrival Appoints New CEO, Lays Off 50% of Staff

    Electric vehicle startup Arrival has undergone a major shakeup, appointing a new CEO and announcing layoffs of 50% of its staff.

    Arrival has a deal with UPS to provide 10,000 electric delivery vans through 2024. Despite the high-profile contract, the company has struggled financially and is now announcing its second round of layoffs in a year.

    Following a detailed review of its operations and its markets, Arrival is now announcing immediate actions to further reduce its operating costs and to optimize the deployment of its current cash resources. This includes the difficult decision to reduce its global workforce by approximately 50% to 800 employees. When combined with other cost reductions in real estate and third-party spending, the company expects to halve the ongoing cash cost of operating the business to approximately $30 million per quarter.

    Simultaneously, the company also announced a new CEO, Igor Torgov. Torgov has a long history in the tech industry, with stints at Microsoft, Bitfury, Columbus A/S, and Yota. Most recently, before serving as Arrival’s EVP of Digital, Torgov served as CEO of Atol.

    “Accepting this important role at a critical point in Arrival’s journey is a significant responsibility,” said Torgov. “Arrival has developed unique technologies in a market that has huge growth potential and can play a key role in addressing climate change. To unlock these opportunities, we need to make difficult decisions and to take swift action. Following a detailed evaluation of Arrival and the wider EV market during the past two months, the leadership team and the Board have taken decisive action to ensure the most effective use of our current resources and optimize the efficiency of the business. The actions support our journey to become a champion in innovative products and new, more efficient methods of vehicle production, particularly in the important US market for commercial electric vehicles. We are keenly aware that these decisions, while necessary, will have a profound impact on a significant number of our colleagues. We are 100% committed to supporting our employees during this difficult process.”

  • PagerDuty CEO Quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in Cringe-Worthy Layoff Email

    PagerDuty CEO Quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. in Cringe-Worthy Layoff Email

    PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada has set the bar for the most cringe-worthy way of laying off employees.

    Like many tech companies, PageDuty is laying off part of its staff to better survive the economic downturn. Tejada informed employees in an email, the contents of which were posted on the company’s site.

    In her email, the CEO said the company will be laying off “roughly 7% of roles globally, the vast majority of which are in North America, primarily in our go-to-market and G&A organizations.”

    Tejada then goes on to explain why the layoffs are necessary, as they’re designed to help the company better support other business ventures, something the laid-off employees probably don’t care about and would have been better left to another email:

    Decisions were predicated on business rationale that included, for example, protecting investments in top product development priorities like our new Incident Workflows, self service and product-led growth (PLG), and continued AIOps and Automation enhancements, improving spans of control and streamlining management layers, expanding teams and roles in Santiago and Lisbon, and addressing our enterprise opportunity with a hybrid strategic and high-velocity GTM motion that continues to improve our productivity

    The coup de grâce, however, was quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in an effort to make herself, the company, and its leadership look better:

    None of this would be possible without you, our leadership, and our board — thank you for your grit and resilience, your commitment to our customers and your support of our values and people. I am reminded in moments like this, of something Martin Luther King said, that “the ultimate measure of a [leader] is not where [they] stand in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where [they] stand in times of challenge and controversy.” PagerDuty is a leader that stands behind its customers, its values, and our vision — for an equitable world where we transform critical work so all teams can delight their customers and build trust.

    Interestingly, while Tejada says the company ‘stands behind its customers, its values, and its vision,’ its interesting that she didn’t say it stands behind its employees.

    Predictably, Tejada quoting Dr. King has not gone over well, with the CEO receiving widespread criticism.

    While PagerDuty is well within its rights to lay off employees, and may even need to, Tejada would do well to not quote Dr. King in an effort to make such a decision — one that negatively impacts so many lives — look better. Nor should Dr. King’s words be used to pat herself and the company’s leadership on the back at a time when her employees will be paying the price for that leadership’s miscalculations.

  • Walmart Bucks Economy, Raises Wages

    Walmart Bucks Economy, Raises Wages

    Walmart has announced a major initiative aimed to invest in its workers, including raising wages across the company.

    Companies in various industries have been laying off workers left and right, but Walmart is going in the exact opposite direction, paying the workers it has even more. Instead of ranging from $12.00 to $18.00 per hour, the new pay scale will range from $14.00 to $19.00 per hour.

    “First, starting next month, we’ll begin investing in higher wages for associates,” writes John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart US. “This includes a mixture of associates’ regular annual increases and targeted investments in starting rates for thousands of stores, to ensure we have attractive pay in the markets we operate. We expect these raises will bring our U.S. average hourly wage to more than $17.50. They’ll be reflected in March 2 paychecks.”

    In addition to raising wages, the company is also adding higher-paid positions in its Auto Care Centers (ACC).

    “Second, we’re continuing to invest in associates who run our Auto Care Centers (ACC),” Furner continues. “Last fall we created a higher-paying ACC coach role. Now we’re introducing a higher-paying ACC team lead position and elevating the ACC tech position to a higher pay-band that reflects the special skills needed for the role and its importance to our business.”

    The company is also adding additional college degrees and certificates to its Live Better U (LBU) program, and the company will pay 100% of tuition and fees.

    Finally, the company is also expanding its Associate-Driver Program, which pays supply chain associates to earn their commercial driver’s licenses. Once they become a Walmart truck driver, associates can earn up to $100,000 in their first year.

    It’s refreshing to see a company investing more in their employees, including paying them more, rather than laying them off.

  • IBM Laying Off 3,900 Employees

    IBM Laying Off 3,900 Employees

    Big Blue is joining the list of tech companies laying off employees, announcing it would cut 3,900 jobs.

    Virtually all of IBM’s larger rivals in the tech space have engaged in layoffs, numbering in the tens of thousands in 2023 alone. According to Reuters, IBM is now adding to that number, with plans to lay off 3,900 employees.

    The news comes following the company’s quarterly report in which it fell short of its annual cash target.

    CFO James Kavanaugh told the outlet IBM was still “committed to hiring for client-facing research and development.”

    Despite the news, CEO Arvind Krishna put a positive spin on the company’s overall results.

    “Our solid fourth-quarter performance capped a year in which we grew revenue above our mid-single digit model. Clients in all geographies increasingly embraced our hybrid cloud and AI solutions as technology remains a differentiating force in today’s business environment,” said Krishna. “Looking ahead to 2023, we expect full-year revenue growth consistent with our mid-single digit model.”

  • Major Google Investor Wants Company to Lay Off 30,000

    Major Google Investor Wants Company to Lay Off 30,000

    A major Google investor doesn’t believe the company’s 12,000 job cuts are enough and is calling for 30,000 instead.

    Sir Christopher Hohn runs The Children’s Investment Fund. He was already a proponent of layoffs, raising the possibility to Google leaders in November, according to The Register.

    In an open letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Hohn makes the case that the company’s recently announced layoffs don’t go far enough.

    “The decision to cut 12,000 jobs is a step in the right direction, but it does not even reverse the very strong headcount growth of 2022,” he writes. “Ultimately management will need to go further.”

    “I believe that management should aim to reduce headcount to around 150,000, which is in line with Alphabet’s headcount at the end of 2021. This would require a total headcount reduction in the order of 20%,” he added.

    Interestingly, Hohn takes aim at “excessive employee compensation” as well, saying the median salary at Alphabet was almost $300,000 in 2021, with the average being even higher.

    That specific criticism is — shall we say — “interesting,” coming from an individual who reportedly paid himself a whopping $690 million salary, or $1.8 million per day, in 2022.

  • Amazon Faces First-Ever UK Strike

    Amazon Faces First-Ever UK Strike

    Amazon is facing its first-ever strike in the UK, with hundreds of workers at its Coventry warehouse announcing strike dates.

    While Amazon is notorious for its efforts to combat unionization, unions in other countries are far more common than in the US. Workers at the company’s Coventry warehouse are going on strike over Amazon’s proposed 50 pence an hour raise.

    According to UPI News, Amazon’s employees were asking for a raise that would bring their pay on par with US workers. The UK workers currently are paid $12.90 an hour, but were requesting $18.50 an hour.

    “Amazon workers in Coventry are set to make history on 25 January, becoming the first ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike,” said Amanda Gearing, GMB Senior Organiser.

    “They’ve shown they’re willing to put themselves on the line to fighting for what’s right. But people working for one of the most valuable companies in the world shouldn’t have to threaten strike action just to win a wage they can live on.

    “GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to give workers a proper pay rise and avoid industrial action altogether.”

    The strike began January 25, and will last for 24 hours. The union will extend the strike if Amazon refuses to negotiate.

  • Engineer Learned He Was Laid Off When Google Ghosted Him

    Engineer Learned He Was Laid Off When Google Ghosted Him

    A Google engineer of more than 16 years only learned he had been laid off when his company account was deactivated.

    Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the “difficult decision” to lay off some 12,000 workers last week. Interestingly, when making the announcement, Pichai said US-based employees had already been notified. For at least one engineer, however, that “notification” left much to be desired.

    Engineering Manager Justin Moore, who worked at the company for 16.5 years, says on LinkedIn that he learned he was one of the laid-off employees when his company account was deactivated in the middle of the night:

    So after over 16.5 years at Google, I appear to have been let go via an automated account deactivation at 3am this morning as one of the lucky 12,000. I don’t have any other information, as I haven’t received any of the other communications the boilerplate “you’ve been let go” website (which I now also can’t access) said I should receive.

    Moore walked away from the experience with a vital life lesson, one he outlines in his post:

    This also just drives home that work is not your life, and employers — especially big, faceless ones like Google — see you as 100% disposable. Live life, not work.

    While it’s nice to see Moore maintaining a positive attitude, it’s hard to understand how or why his termination was handled the way it was. Any employee who has worked for a company for more than 16 years deserves to be properly notified when their services are not longer required — rather than being ghosted in the middle of the night.

  • Spotify Laying Off 6% of Its Workforce

    Spotify Laying Off 6% of Its Workforce

    Spotify has joined the ranks of tech companies laying off employees, saying it is laying off 6% of its employees.

    The tech industry has been especially hard-hit by the economic downturn following a couple of years of breakneck hiring during the pandemic. Spotify is no exception, with CEO Daniel Ek sharing a note with employees informing them of the layoffs.

    While we have made great progress in improving speed in the last few years, we haven’t focused as much on improving efficiency. We still spend far too much time syncing on slightly different strategies, which slows us down. And in a challenging economic environment, efficiency takes on greater importance. So, in an effort to drive more efficiency, control costs, and speed up decision-making, I have decided to restructure our organization.

    Ek made it clear that, like many business leaders, he underestimated the post-pandemic economy.

    Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us. In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth. And for this reason, today, we are reducing our employee base by about 6% across the company. I take full accountability for the moves that got us here today.

    Laid off employees will receive an average of five months of severance pay, pay for all unused vacation time, healthcare during their severance period, as well as immigration and outplacement support.

  • Microsoft Execs Enjoyed Private Sting Concert the Night Before Layoffs

    Microsoft Execs Enjoyed Private Sting Concert the Night Before Layoffs

    Microsoft is (justifiably) taking flak for hosting a private Sting concert for top execs the night before announcing layoffs for thousands of employees.

    Microsoft announced layoffs Wednesday, impacting some 10,000 employees. That number puts Microsoft only behind Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet for the number of tech workers laid off at one time over the last year. At the time the layoffs were announced, the company blamed “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

    Evidently, those “macroeconomic conditions” and ‘changing priorities’ did not include rethinking a private Sting concert in Davos, one that Microsoft hosted and saw some of the company’s top execs in attendance, according to The Wall Street Journal. Needless to say, the revelation is not going over well with those inside and outside the company.

    Is the concert to blame for the layoffs? No. Would canceling or rescheduling the concert have saved jobs? Of course not. Are the optics unconscionably bad? Absolutely!

    The fact that Microsoft’s execs did not see an issue with holding and enjoying the concert just hours before upending the lives of 10,000 of their employees speaks to a level of obtuseness — perhaps even callousness — that is hard to fathom.

    While many companies have had to resort to layoffs amid the current economic situation, Microsoft just set the bar for how not to do it.

  • Capital One Eliminates 1,100 Tech Jobs

    Capital One Eliminates 1,100 Tech Jobs

    Capital One has eliminated 1,100 agile tech jobs, part of its “overall tech transformation.”

    According to Bloomberg, the company is eliminating jobs specifically focused on agile development. Instead, the company plans for existing engineering and product management roles to integrate agile methods in their work routines.

    “Decisions that affect our associates, especially those that involve role eliminations, are incredibly difficult,” the company said in the statement to Bloomberg. “This announcement is not a reflection on these individuals or the work they have driven on behalf of our technology organization. Their contributions have been critical to maturing our software-delivery model and our overall tech transformation.

    “The agile role in our tech organization was critical to our earlier transformation phases but as our organization matured, the natural next step is to integrate agile delivery processes directly into our core engineering practices,” Capital One added.

    Impacted employees are being invited to apply for other roles within the company. Those that don’t find new jobs inside Capital One will be given at least 16 weeks severance pay.

  • Alphabet CEO Announces ‘Difficult Decision’ to Lay Off 12,000

    Alphabet CEO Announces ‘Difficult Decision’ to Lay Off 12,000

    Google parent Alphabet has now firmly joined the ranks of companies laying off employees, with plans to cut 12,000 jobs.

    Two of Alphabet’s “Other Bets” companies, Intrinsic and Verily, announced layoffs last week, but today the company announced mass layoffs at its core: Google and Alphabet. In an email, which later became a blog post, CEO Sundar Pichai said the company would be laying off some 12,000 employees, surpassing both Microsoft and Meta’s numbers.

    In his memo to employees, Pichai called the move “a difficult decision to set us up for the future.”

    I have some difficult news to share. We’ve decided to reduce our workforce by approximately 12,000 roles. We’ve already sent a separate email to employees in the US who are affected. In other countries, this process will take longer due to local laws and practices.

    This will mean saying goodbye to some incredibly talented people we worked hard to hire and have loved working with. I’m deeply sorry for that. The fact that these changes will impact the lives of Googlers weighs heavily on me, and I take full responsibility for the decisions that led us here.

    Like many other executives announcing layoffs, Pichai blamed it on a changed economic reality from the one that led to the frenzied hiring of the past couple of years.

    Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today.

    Interestingly, Pichai said the layoffs were in response to a review of the company’s personnel and roles in an effort to identify “people and roles are aligned with our highest priorities as a company.” This statement seems to confirm fears Googlers had in December that new evaluation methods were being used as a prelude to layoffs.

    Pichai says impacted US employees have already been notified, although notifying international employees will take longer because of local laws. In the meantime, employees will continue to be paid during the notification period, a minimum of 60 days.

    Alphabet is also offering a severance package that starts at 16 weeks’ pay, plus an additional two weeks for every year at the company. The company will also accelerate a minimum of 16 weeks GSU vesting.

    The company also plans to pay all 2022 bonuses and vacation time and provide six months of healthcare, job placements, and immigration assistance.

    Pichai tried to reassure employees that the company was well-positioned for the future, despite the layoffs.

    All this work is a continuation of the “healthy disregard for the impossible” that’s been core to our culture from the beginning. When I look around Google today, I see that same spirit and energy driving our efforts. That’s why I remain optimistic about our ability to deliver on our mission, even on our toughest days. Today is certainly one of them.

    Regardless of how Pichai spins it, the fact remains that these layoffs are a major black mark on Alphabet and Google’s reputation. The company has long prided itself on never laying people off. With this announcement, however, the company has managed to lay off more employees than any other company in the last year except Amazon.

    Future tech talent looking for a company to spend their career at may well remember this.

  • Microsoft Confirms Layoffs, 10,000 Jobs Cut

    Microsoft Confirms Layoffs, 10,000 Jobs Cut

    Microsoft has confirmed its plans to engage in layoffs, with plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or nearly 5% of its total workforce.

    Rumors surfaced Tuesday that Microsoft was preparing to lay off employees, with reports placing the number at 11,000, or 5% of the company’s workforce. Some analysts, however, expected the total number to be higher.

    According to AP News, Microsoft has confirmed its plans, although the total number is coming in slightly slower than initially reported, at 10,000. In a regulatory filing, Microsoft blamed “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

    Interestingly, as AP points out, the layoffs are still less than the number of jobs Microsoft added during the pandemic, a testament to the popularity of its products and cloud services.

    CEO Satya Nadella also made clear the company has not frozen all hiring, but will continue to hire for specific roles.

    “While we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas,” Nadella said.

  • Microsoft Prepares to Cut 11,000 Jobs

    Microsoft Prepares to Cut 11,000 Jobs

    Microsoft is on the verge of a major round of layoffs, with plans to cut 5% of its workforce, or 11,000 jobs.

    The tech industry has been beset with mass layoffs as a result of the economic downturn, topping some 125,000 in 2022. Amazon, Meta, Salesforce, Oracle, and HP are just a few of the companies impacted. Microsoft is on the verge of joining that list, according to Sky News, with the company poised to cut 5% of its workforce. With some 200,000 employees, 5% equals roughly 11,000 staff.

    Sky News was unable to confirm the exact number and cites one Wall Street analyst as believing the final number will likely be higher. The outlet also quotes Guggenheim analysts regarding Microsoft’s upcoming earnings.

    “While most investors see Microsoft as a large stable business that can weather any storm, it does have vulnerabilities, some of which could be exacerbated by this macro[economic] slowdown,” they wrote.

    Whatever the final tally turns out to be, the layoffs are sure to raise doubt about Microsoft’s prospects, doubt that is clearly already beginning to grow.

  • IBM’s Entire AIX Development Is Now Based in India

    IBM’s Entire AIX Development Is Now Based in India

    IBM’s entire AIX development effort has been moved to India, a stark change from just a few months ago.

    According to The Register, IBM’s AIX development was split roughly evenly between the US and India as recently as the third quarter of 2022. The outlet’s sources say some 80 jobs have been impacted, although IBM has refused to respond to requests for comment at least twice.

    “It also appears that these people in ‘redeployment’ limbo within IBM are all older, retirement eligible employees,” one of The Register’s sources said. “The general sense among my peers is that redeployment is being used to nudge older employees out of the company and to do so in a manner that avoids the type of scrutiny that comes with layoffs.”

    IBM has a long history of being sued for age-related discrimination, allegedly targeting older employees for layoffs. The outlet’s source is likely correct that Big Blue is trying to avoid such scrutiny.

  • Why Tech Businesses Need Content Writers

    Why Tech Businesses Need Content Writers

    More or less every modern business has a blog. A good blog does not only help attract more visitors to the website, but it also significantly helps improve traffic and revenue. An added advantage of blogs is that they also help further educate current and potential customers.

    Therefore, a high-quality blog needs to contain important information regarding not just your company and product or services it offers, but also anything that may bring additional value to your visitors. That’s why it is of the utmost importance that companies pay special attention to creating their blogs.

    Obviously, the first place to start off on this journey is hiring content writers. Since content is king in the current marketing scene, any business that wishes to achieve success needs to ensure that the content they create and put out is stellar.

    Luckily, with the help of professionals, such as those at Top Content, tech businesses can ensure that the tech content they put out matches the necessary level of quality. This not only helps them establish themselves as experts in their fields, but it also significantly aids all of their SEO efforts as well.

    Reasons Why Tech Content Writers Are in High Demand

    • They Provide High-Quality Content

    The first and arguably the most important reason tech content writers are in such high demand is the fact that they create high-quality content. The fact of the matter is that not all content creators are able to create high-quality tech content that will actually bring real value to readers.

    Therefore, in order to be able to create such a piece of content, the writer must first get familiar with the matter and understand all of the ins and outs of the subject before they can start creating. 

    Needless to say, specializing in tech content creation is not an easy task and it is definitely not the one suited for everybody. So, instead of simply looking for “Jack-of-all-trades” content creators, it’s always better to focus on the ones that specialize in a certain field – in this case tech.

    • They Know How to Engage the Audience

    Another invaluable perk of tech content writers is the fact that they know exactly how they can reach out to and engage with the readers. Since they’re so knowledgeable and well-versed about the industry and the niche they’re working in, coming up with interesting and engaging blog topics is quite easy for them.

    Needless to say, the more engaged your readers are, the more they will feel inclined to interact with your brand. And the more they do it, the greater the website traffic, exposure and – in the end – revenue you can expect to receive. 

    Additionally, the more organic traffic your website manages to attract – and needless to say, this is easily achievable with high-quality blog posts – the better the results your marketing efforts will yield. Meaning that the incoming organic traffic will signal search engines, such as Google, that your website actually provides value to your audience. 

    • They are quick to learn

    While we’ve mentioned previously that tech content writers know much about the industry and the niche they’re working in, the fact of the matter is that none of them know everything. 

    However, this is not a bad thing actually. By hiring a tech content writer for your tech business, you will get the opportunity to first teach them about the specific products or solutions your business is offering.

    That way they will get a unique perspective into your business and your offer, which will only help them further improve the quality of the content they end up creating. Even better than that, they can use the knowledge they’ve acquired and present it to your audience in a more concise way that is easier to understand even for someone who’s not extremely skillful or familiar with the industry-specific jargon.

    • They Understand How Marketing Works

    Aside from everything mentioned previously, high-quality content creators also have a deep understanding of how modern-day marketing works. This is great news for any business, as digital marketing plays a huge role in business success.

    Knowing how to say things is not the only important part of content creation. Knowing when and where to say them also has quite a bit of significance.

    What we mean to say is that not all digital marketing channels require or even favor the same type of content. That’s why it’s important to hire an expert that will create the right type of content for the specific channel you intend to use it in. 

    Final Thoughts

    Every modern business needs high-quality content to help them attract more visitors, establish themselves as the authority in the industry and generally boost their marketing efforts. That is why every business that has a goal of reaching success should look for skilled and high-quality tech content writers to help them out.