WebProNews

Category: HRProNews

HRProNews

  • Cisco Laying Off 4,000+ Workers, Taking $600 Million Restructuring Charge

    Cisco Laying Off 4,000+ Workers, Taking $600 Million Restructuring Charge

    Cisco is the latest tech giant to engage in layoffs, cutting more than 4,000 staff and taking a $600 million restructuring charge.

    The tech industry has been hit with some of the worst layoffs in recent history, impacting tens of thousands of workers. Cisco is now joining the ranks of companies joining the layoff bandwagon, with SFGATE reporting that the company plans to lay off more than 4,000 employees.

    Interestingly, company spokesperson Robyn Blum said the layoffs were not about reducing headcount.

    “This is not about reducing our workforce,” Blum said. “In fact we’ll have roughly the same number of employees at the end of this fiscal year as we had when we started.”

    The company intends to try to “place affected employees in … open roles,” Blum added.

    Similarly, Network World reports Cisco has filed an 8-K filing indicating its intention to take a $600 million restructuring charge “in order to rebalance the organization and enable further investment in key priority areas. This rebalancing will include talent movement options and restructuring.”

    CFO Scott Herren also emphasized the restructuring program is not for the purpose of reducing the company’s headcount.

    “And to be clear [about] this: Don’t think of this as a headcount action that is motivated by cost savings. This really is a rebalancing. As we look across the board, there are areas that we would like to invest in more. Security, our move to platforms, and more cloud-delivered products. But we’re also going to maintain our financial discipline as we do that,” Herren said.

    “This is about rebalancing across the board. In a perfect world, you’d have 100% skill match, and you can take the people in the areas, or the skills in certain areas, and just move them to where we need to invest, and unfortunately, that’s not – it’s not a perfect world,” Herren added.

  • Analyst Says Google Should Conduct Layoffs

    An analyst is calling on Google to lay off employees, saying attrition alone will not be sufficient to cut costs.

    The tech industry has been beset with mass layoffs amid an economic downturn that is impacting a range of industries. Virtually ever major tech player has already engaged in layoffs, but Google has so far managed to avoid them. According to Business Insider, Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik says the company should rethink its stance.

    “Google is likely going to find it difficult to reduce headcount growth below revenue growth without more drastic actions,” Shmulik wrote.

    As Insider points out, Google has avoided layoffs as a matter of pride. The company has built a reputation as an employee-friendly workplace and has never conducted a mass layoff. Instead, the company has always relied on attrition to reduce its numbers, letting employees take jobs at other companies without putting forth any effort to stop them.

    The current economic situation is no longer conducive to that approach. While there was a shortage just months ago, there is now a glut of qualified candidates as tens of thousands of tech workers have been laid off and are looking for work.

    “The VC market has cooled dramatically, meaning there is no more funding to grow headcount, and the crypto market has imploded, which cuts out an entire subsector of the potential tech employment pool,” Shmulik wrote. 

    In the meantime, Google employees are already being subjected to tighter performance reviews, a measure that could be a precursor to layoffs.

    “If you have a job at Google, you’re keeping your head down and hoping that cutting toro from the sushi bar is the only cut that affects you,” Shmulik added.

  • VC Firm Wants to Invest $100,000 in Firms With Laid-Off Founders

    VC Firm Wants to Invest $100,000 in Firms With Laid-Off Founders

    Day One Ventures is looking to invest in companies with laid-off founders, in an effort to benefit from their experience.

    The tech industry is going through quite a bit of upheaval, with companies throughout the industry implementing hiring freezes and layoffs. Some companies, such as Meta, are engaging in the biggest layoffs in their history.

    Day One Ventures wants to help some of those laid-off employees land on their feet, while benefiting from their previous experience. According to CNBC, the company has committed to making $100,000 investments in 20 startups with at least one founding member having been laid off from a tech company.

    “VC investors are sitting on billions of dollars, and now we have thousands of talented people in engineering, salespeople, support staff and other functions looking for new job opportunities — so why not direct some of this money towards them?” founder Masha Bucher, who has been laid off twice herself, told CNBC.

    “Being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she says, calling the experience a “wake-up call” that led to full-time entrepreneurship.

    Startups that qualify for the firm’s “Funded, Not Fired” program can apply here.

  • Microsoft Releases Results of Independent Transparency Report

    Microsoft Releases Results of Independent Transparency Report

    Microsoft has released the results of an independent transparency report on the company’s handling of harassment and discrimination policies.

    Following a successful shareholder resolution, Microsoft’s board ordered an independent review of its harassment and discrimination policies, including how it handled allegations against Bill Gates. The firm that handled the review, ArentFox Schiff LLP, has completed its work, and Microsoft has released the results.

    The report shows that Microsoft does a good job overall in terms of its policies and procedures:

    Microsoft has robust policies, trainings, and complaint and investigation procedures addressing the issues of gender discrimination and sexual harassment, and has made meaningful efforts to make improvements in these areas during the period covered by this Project. Our review revealed that the Company strives to follow best practices in these areas, and espouses a dedication to continual improvement.

    Nonetheless, the firm did find areas where the company could improve, especially in handling cases sooner. The firm references the company’s so-called “golden boys,” a group of executives that seemingly were given a free pass on inappropriate behavior because they are viewed as some of the company’s most valuable executives.

    First, that there is and has been a perception among some employees that the Company tolerates and to some degree protects high performing senior executives who may be engaging in inappropriate conduct. Second, due to the volume of complaints against these Corporate Vice Presidents, there was at least a perception and a degree of evidence that they were engaging in inappropriate conduct toward female employees that could have been addressed earlier than it was. Third, although multiple people from HR, GER, ERIT, and WIT had knowledge of various allegations against these executives, it did not seem that any one of them had all of the knowledge of all of the allegations, which may have been useful in addressing the situation earlier. We have made some recommendations to address these observations below.

    Interestingly, the report did not shed any new light on the allegations against Gates, nor did it add anything to Microsoft’s own internal investigation. This would seem to support the findings and results of Microsoft’s original investigation.

    For its part, Microsoft has promised to implement the suggestions in the report in an effort to shore up the areas where it has fallen short:

    ArentFox has completed its work and has provided the Board with a report detailing its findings and recommendations. In addition, the Microsoft management team has prepared an implementation plan that addresses all the recommendations in the ArentFox report. In many cases, the recommendations build on and extend work already in progress. The Board has thoroughly reviewed the ArentFox report, and it has approved the specific actions in the implementation plan.

    “Cultivating a culture where everyone is empowered to do meaningful work and can thrive is our greatest responsibility at Microsoft,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “The Board of Directors has taken this investigation seriously and the resulting comprehensive report outlines important areas where we can continue to improve, as well as progress we’ve made. The Board of Directors and our senior leaders are fully committed to this implementation plan as we continually work to close the gap between our espoused culture and the lived experience of our employees.”

  • Amazon Reportedly Plans to Lay Off 10,000

    Amazon Reportedly Plans to Lay Off 10,000

    Amazon may soon be joining Meta in one of the biggest mass layoffs of 2022, with the company reportedly looking to lay off 10,000 employees.

    Amazon has already engaged in major hiring freezes and let attrition reduce its headcount. The company appears poised to take far more aggressive action, with The New York Times reporting that it plans to lay off roughly 10,000 employees.

    The Times sources said the layoffs will primarily hit corporate and technology positions. Cuts will include the devices organization, responsible for Alexa, as well as HR and retail.

    The fact that Amazon is reportedly taking this measure during the holiday season, when its economic situation is the strongest, speaks volumes about the overall health of the economy. As the Times points out, this is a major change from earlier this year when companies were trying to keep talented workers and not lose them to competitors.

    If the layoffs proceed as reported, it would be the second-largest of the year, behind Meta’s 11,000.

  • Twitter Reportedly Letting Contract Workers Go

    Twitter Reportedly Letting Contract Workers Go

    Twitter’s personnel cuts continue, with the company reportedly letting contractor workers go over the weekend.

    Since purchasing the company, Elon Musk has been slashing Twitter’s workforce, laying off roughly half of the company’s employees. According to Platformer’s Casey Newton, the personnel cuts have now hit Twitter’s contractors around the world.

    Only time will tell if further cuts will come. Given that Musk has said even bankruptcy is on the table, nothing would be surprising.

  • Meta’s Image Tarnished With Employees Angry Over Layoffs

    Meta’s Image Tarnished With Employees Angry Over Layoffs

    Meta’s image as a coveted place to work has taken a major hit, with employees disillusioned and angry over this week’s layoffs.

    Meta has always been a top spot to work in Silicon Valley, but the company announced it would lay off some 11,000 employees this week. The layoffs impacted virtually every department, but the one thing it didn’t impact is Meta’s investment in Zuckerberg’s pet project: the metaverse.

    According to Business Insider, employees are disillusioned, confused, and angry with the layoffs.

    “People really didn’t expect layoffs at that scale, even after the news,” said one employee who was not laid off. “Going above 10,000 was definitely more than I had in mind, and more than people had in mind.”

    “Class act as always,” one laid-off employee said sarcastically of Zuckerberg’s announcement. “Least it was on brand.”

    Read more: Major Meta Investor Urges Company to Scale Back Metaverse Investments

    Some employees wasted no time blaming Zuckerberg’s obsession with the metaverse for creating the circumstances that led to so many being laid off.

    “I certainly feel negatively towards him, and I’m sure many more people feel the same,” one impacted worker said. “There’s too much focus on metaverse and Reality Labs.”

    What’s more, the company’s focus on the metaverse seems to be at the exclusion of other company divisions, including ones that are currently growth drivers. For example, despite Zuckerberg repeatedly touting the importance of Facebook’s TikTok-like Reels and calling it a growth driver, one employee estimates as much as 70% of product marketing managers were laid off.

    “Honestly I’m more shocked than anything,” the person added. “It was pretty much a PMM and ‘Business Team’ bloodbath.”

    In a competitive tech scene, the ability to attract top talent is often the major differentiating factor between successful ventures and failures. Meta may have just shot itself in the foot and crippled its ability to attract that top talent in the future.

  • Meta Axes 11,000 Employees, the Biggest Tech Layoff in 2022

    Meta Axes 11,000 Employees, the Biggest Tech Layoff in 2022

    Meta has followed through on reported layoff plans, axing 11,000 employees and earning the distinction of conducting the biggest tech layoff in 2022.

    Meta is in trouble, with the company pumping billions into the metaverse at a time when its “core business hit a wall last fall.” Reports surfaced earlier this week that the company would conduct mass layoffs, rather than cut metaverse investments, and the company has done just that.

    In a letter to employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined the plans and took responsibility for the decision.

    Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.

    I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted.

    As many tech companies have done, Meta is offering employees a significant severance package. Employees will receive 16 weeks of pay, plus two additional weeks for every year they were employed, with no cap. All PTO will be paid, and the company will provide health insurance for employees and their families for six months. Meta will also provide immigration support to employees with work visas.

    Read more: Oculus Founder Says Meta’s Metaverse Is Like ‘Project Car’ That’s ‘Not Good’

    Zuckerberg says the company is also engaging in other cost-saving measures, such as reducing its real estate footprint, freezing nearly all hiring for Q1, and analyzing infrastructure investments in an effort to become more efficient.

    Interestingly, the word “metaverse” was only referenced once in the entire, rather lengthy, letter:

    In this new environment, we need to become more capital efficient. We’ve shifted more of our resources onto a smaller number of high priority growth areas — like our AI discovery engine, our ads and business platforms, and our long-term vision for the metaverse. We’ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We’re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency. But these measures alone won’t bring our expenses in line with our revenue growth, so I’ve also made the hard decision to let people go.

    Brad Gerstner, Altimeter Capital CEO, has been one of Mata’s most outspoken critics, despite being a major investor. He called attention to Meta’s plans to invest at least $100 billion in the metaverse over a ten-year period, saying it was “super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards.”

    Given that many employees are losing their jobs in no small part because of Zuckerberg’s obsession with the metaverse, it’s probably a good idea he only mentioned it once in his letter.

  • Meta Poised for Biggest Layoffs in Its History

    Meta Poised for Biggest Layoffs in Its History

    Meta is reportedly poised to lay off the largest number of employees in company history, beginning this week.

    Meta previously indicated that it planned to reduce its headcount, but The Seattle Times says sources within the company are saying this will be the biggest headcount reduction in its history.

    The news is not surprising, especially given Meta’s financial troubles. The company is pouring billions into the metaverse, a bet that has yet to pay off in any way. The company has even tapped Microsoft to help it expand use cases for the metaverse.

    Company executives had previously made it clear that they want managers to start eliminating employees that fail to deliver.

    “If a direct report is coasting or a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company,” said Maher Saba, Vice President of Remote Presence and Engineering. “As a manager, you cannot allow someone to be net neutral or negative for Meta.”

    There is no word yet on the specific number of employees that will be laid off, but the layoffs will reportedly begin by the end of the week.

  • Twitter Layoffs to Begin

    Twitter Layoffs to Begin

    Twitter has notified employees that layoffs will soon begin, with notifications being sent via email.

    Elon Musk finalized his acquisition of Twitter in late October amid rumors that he planned to gut the company’s workforce. Despite claiming the reported 75% layoff target was inaccurate, no one really believed Musk wasn’t going to lay off at least some of the company’s staff.

    According to NBC News, Twitter sent an email Thursday notifying employees of the impending layoffs.

    “We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward,” the email said.

    An employee told NBC News the layoff email was the first communication since Musk’s takeover of the company, contributing to a demoralizing impact.

    “It’s total chaos, house melting down, everyone looking towards this email,” the employee said.

  • Lyft Prepares for ‘Probable Recession’ by Laying Off 13% of Staff

    Lyft Prepares for ‘Probable Recession’ by Laying Off 13% of Staff

    Lyft joins the long list of companies laying off employees in preparation for what it calls a “probable recession.”

    According to Fast Company, Lyft CEO Logan Green and President John Zimmer called employees to an all-hands meeting.

    “We’re facing a probable recession sometime in the next year and rideshare insurance costs are going up,” the executives wrote in an email announcing the meeting. “We worked hard to bring down costs this summer: we slowed, then froze hiring; cut spending; and paused less-critical initiatives. Still, Lyft has to become leaner, which requires us to part with incredible team members.”

    “We are not immune to the realities of inflation and a slowing economy. We need 2023 to be a period where we can better execute without having to change plans in response to external events — and the tough reality is that today’s actions set us up to do that,” Zimmer and Green added. “It’s our responsibility to take ownership of these decisions and, in the end, protect the future we’re building for the drivers and riders we serve.”

    The company says it will give workers 10 weeks of pay, assistance finding other jobs, and healthcare through April 2024.

  • Amazon Freezes Corporate Hiring

    Amazon Freezes Corporate Hiring

    Amazon is cracking down on hiring even more, freezing all “incremental” corporate hiring, according to a new report.

    Amazon has been struggling with the economic headwinds facing the tech industry, as well as the world. The company recently froze hiring for its advertising unit, despite it being one of the fastest growing divisions within the company.

    Amazon has now frozen corporate hiring and plans to keep the freeze in place for some time.

    “With the economy in an uncertain place and in light of how many people we have hired in the last few years, Andy and S-team decided this week to pause on new incremental hires in our corporate workforce,” wrote Beth Galetti, senior vice-president of People Experience and Technology at Amazon, in a company blog post.

    “We had already done so in a few of our businesses in recent weeks and have added our other businesses to this approach,” Galetti continues. “We anticipate keeping this pause in place for the next few months, and will continue to monitor what we’re seeing in the economy and the business to adjust as we think makes sense.”

  • Stripe Lets 14% of Its Staff Go

    Stripe Lets 14% of Its Staff Go

    Stripe is the latest company to conduct mass layoffs, letting 14%, or more than 1,000 employees go.

    Stripe CEO Patrick Collison sent a memo to employees Thursday to deliver the bad news:

    Today we’re announcing the hardest change we have had to make at Stripe to date. We’re reducing the size of our team by around 14% and saying goodbye to many talented Stripes in the process. If you are among those impacted, you will receive a notification email within the next 15 minutes. For those of you leaving: we’re very sorry to be taking this step and John and I are fully responsible for the decisions leading up to it.

    Collison blamed the decision on a changing world, including significant financial headwinds that have become more apparent throughout 2022.

    At the outset of the pandemic in 2020, the world rotated overnight towards e-commerce. We witnessed significantly higher growth rates over the course of 2020 and 2021 compared to what we had seen previously. As an organization, we transitioned into a new operating mode and both our revenue and payment volume have since grown more than 3x.

    The world is now shifting again. We are facing stubborn inflation, energy shocks, higher interest rates, reduced investment budgets, and sparser startup funding. (Tech company earnings last week provided lots of examples of changing circumstances.) On Tuesday, a former Treasury Secretary said that the US faces “as complex a set of macroeconomic challenges as at any time in 75 years”, and many parts of the developed world appear to be headed for recession. We think that 2022 represents the beginning of a different economic climate.

    The company is taking a number of steps to make the layoffs as painless as possible, including a minimum 14 weeks severance pay, with employees with more seniority receiving even more. The company will also pay all 2022 bonuses and pay employees for all unused PTO. Stripe will also “pay the cash equivalent of 6 months of existing healthcare premiums or healthcare continuation.” The company will also offer career support, immigration support for those on work visas, and more.

    No layoff is ever good, but Stripe certainly deserves credit for trying to make the transition as seamless as possible.

  • Twitter Employees Can (Partly) Breathe a Sigh of Relief

    Twitter Employees Can (Partly) Breathe a Sigh of Relief

    Twitter employees can breathe a small sigh of relief on news that Elon Musk is backtracking on his plans to lay off 75% of the workforce.

    Musk is poised to become Twitter’s new owner sometime Friday. The mercurial CEO had previously stated his intention to lay off as much as 75% of the company’s employees once he became the new owner, prompting an open letter in which the employees called the plan “reckless.”

    It appears Musk has had a change of heart, according to Bloomberg. Musk reportedly told employees at a meeting at the company’s San Francisco office that he does not plan on laying off 75% of them.

    The CEO disputed the 75% figure, although it’s still believed that he plans to cut at least some of the staff.

  • Twitter Employees Push Back on Elon Musk’s Layoff Plans

    Twitter Employees Push Back on Elon Musk’s Layoff Plans

    Twitter employees have written an open letter, pushing back against Elon Musk’s reported plans to lay off 75% of the company’s staff.

    Musk’s Twitter acquisition appears to be moving forward, but Musk has reportedly told investors he wants to let up to 75% of the company’s staff go once the deal is done. This would leave the company with just 2,000 of its 7,500 employees.

    According to Time, Twitter employees have penned an open letter objecting to the plans, even going so far as to call them “reckless.” The number of signatures is not yet know, with the authors of the letter saying “signatures will not be made public unless we have critical mass.”

    Below is a copy of the letter in full, courtesy of Time:

    Staff, Elon Musk, and Board of Directors:

    We, the undersigned Twitter workers, believe the public conversation is in jeopardy.

    Elon Musk’s plan to lay off 75% of Twitter workers will hurt Twitter’s ability to serve the public conversation. A threat of this magnitude is reckless, undermines our users’ and customers’ trust in our platform, and is a transparent act of worker intimidation.

    Twitter has significant effects on societies and communities across the globe. As we speak, Twitter is helping to uplift independent journalism in Ukraine and Iran, as well as powering social movements around the world.

    A threat to workers at Twitter is a threat to Twitter’s future. These threats have an impact on us as workers and demonstrate a fundamental disconnect with the realities of operating Twitter. They threaten our livelihoods, access to essential healthcare, and the ability for visa holders to stay in the country they work in. We cannot do our work in an environment of constant harassment and threats. Without our work, there is no Twitter.

    We, the workers at Twitter, will not be intimidated. We recommit to supporting the communities, organizations, and businesses who rely on Twitter. We will not stop serving the public conversation.

    We call on Twitter management and Elon Musk to cease these negligent layoff threats. As workers, we deserve concrete commitments so we can continue to preserve the integrity of our platform.

    We demand of current and future leadership:

    Respect: We demand leadership to respect the platform and the workers who maintain it by committing to preserving the current headcount.

    Safety: We demand that leadership does not discriminate against workers on the basis of their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs. We also demand safety for workers on visas, who will be forced to leave the country they work in if they are laid off.

    Protection: We demand Elon Musk explicitly commit to preserve our benefits, those both listed in the merger agreement and not (e.g. remote work). We demand leadership to establish and ensure fair severance policies for all workers before and after any change in ownership.

    Dignity: We demand transparent, prompt and thoughtful communication around our working conditions. We demand to be treated with dignity, and to not be treated as mere pawns in a game played by billionaires.

    Sincerely,

    Twitter workers

  • Oracle Laying Off More Employees

    Oracle Laying Off More Employees

    Oracle is laying off additional employees just months after a round of layoffs led to “complete chaos.”

    Companies large and small have been slashing spending, freezing hiring, and laying off workers amid the worst economic downturn in years. Oracle is among those companies, engaging in another round of layoffs, according to Business Insider.

    Unlike its previous round of layoffs, this round is unannounced. As a result, there’s no indication how many employees will ultimately be impacted. Some employees are reportedly being told they have until October 31 to secure a new role within the company, while others are being told their employee will be terminated the following Monday.

    Jeremiah Cundiff, Cloud Technology Consultant at Oracle, is one such employee that appears to be in the latter group. Cundiff posted the news on LinkedIn:

    There have been posts regarding #layoffs at #oracle. Unfortunately I got my call this morning that I’ve been included. I aim to remain in tech sales either in business development or as an account executive.

    Insider attributes the layoffs to Oracle’s efforts to trim costs following its $28.3 billion purchase of medical records company Cerner.

  • Elon Musk May Cut Twitter’s Workforce by 75% to 2,000

    Elon Musk May Cut Twitter’s Workforce by 75% to 2,000

    Twitter employees may be in for some bad news on a report that Musk may cut the company’s workforce by 75%.

    With Musk’s purchase of Twitter hurtling to completion, all eyes are on the tech CEO in an effort to gain insight into how he will run the social media company. According to The Washington Post, Musk has told investors he plans to cut Twitter’s workforce by 75%, leaving roughly 2,000 out of its current 7,500 employees.

    According to the Post, Twitter’s executives may have been highly motivated to sell the company because they were already planning cuts of their own. The executives were evidently planning on cutting at least $800 million in payroll by the end of next year. While that would have been just under a quarter of the company, it still represents a major downsizing.

    In retrospect, it’s increasingly looking like letting Musk be the bad guy may have been a major motivation for Twitter’s execs.

  • Moneypenny: 74% of Americans Believe They Need More Workplace Tech Training

    Moneypenny: 74% of Americans Believe They Need More Workplace Tech Training

    A new survey by Moneypenny shows that Americans are confident in their tech skills but still believe they could use additional training.

    The workplace is undergoing a major transition. The rise of cloud computing, web-based software, and remote work has led to a massive digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic. As Americans have adapted to the new workplace, the vast majority are confident in their skills.

    According to Moneypenny, 84% of workers say they’re ‘confident’ with the workplace tech they use. In contrast, only 13% feel ‘neutral,’ and a mere 3% say they are ‘not confident.’ Interestingly, the confidence levels vary little from state to state.

    Despite the high level of confidence, there is quite a bit of difference between various types of software. 47% reported feeling confident with software like Microsoft Office and Google Drive, while only 25% felt confident using messaging software like Slack and Skype.

    Project management software was the category people are least confident using, with a mere 6% of those surveyed saying they felt confident using Asana, Basecamp, Trello, and similar software.

    Moneypenny makes the case that companies should invest in training employees to better use and be comfortable with such apps, a point most employees agree with:

    However, this is concerning given that this lesser used technology, including Project Management and Marketing Software, is of vital importance to businesses across all industries and to most jobs within those businesses. From ecommerce and retail to B2B, all kinds of businesses could drastically benefit from using the software that fewer employees feel confident with.

    This suggests that businesses need to reconsider their software offerings in order to streamline and properly adapt to the rapid changes brought about by the pandemic. However, whilst doing this, businesses must take their employees into consideration. After all, it is no use adopting new technologies if no one knows how to use them. In fact, according to the survey, 74% of people still believe they would benefit from training for the equipment and software they use in the workplace, with training on software considered the most important (55%).

  • Microsoft Is the Latest Company to Lay Off Employees

    Microsoft Is the Latest Company to Lay Off Employees

    Microsoft joins the ranks of other tech companies, laying off an undisclosed number of employees amid economic uncertainty.

    The tech industry has been grappling with a downturn in the economy. Many companies went on hiring sprees during the height of the pandemic, as remote workers and online shopping hit record levels. As things have returned to normal, and with an economic downturn looming, many companies found themselves overstaffed.

    Microsoft is the latest to start laying off employees, with Axios initially reporting on the layoffs. Microsoft confirmed the news in a statement to the outlet:

    “Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly. We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead.”

    Microsoft did not comment on the number, although Axios reported it was under 1,000.

  • “Regretted Attrition” Is Costing Amazon $8 Billion per Year

    “Regretted Attrition” Is Costing Amazon $8 Billion per Year

    Amazon has a big problem, with attrition costing the company $8 billion a year, with the company’s “regretted attrition” off the charts.

    Reports have been surfacing for some time that Amazon has a personnel problem. Reports surfaced in May that Amazon’s “regretted attrition,” the term for losing employees a company wants to keep, doubled over last year. According to an exclusive new report by Engadget, the issue is now costing Amazon some $8 billion a year.

    Sources provided Engadget with documents marked “Amazon Confidential” that detailed the scope of the company’s attrition issues:

    “[Worldwide] Consumer Field Operations is experiencing high levels of attrition (regretted and unregretted) across all levels, totaling an estimated $8 billion annually for Amazon and its shareholders,” one document states.

    The problem is severe enough that “regretted attrition” far outpaces “unregretted attrition,” the term for people being laid off or fired.

    “Regretted attrition occurs twice as often as unregretted attrition across all levels and businesses,” continues the paper. The paper also “indicates regretted attrition [represents] a low of 69.5% to a high of 81.3% across all levels (Tier 1 through Level 10 employees) suggesting a distinct retention issue.”

    Even worse for the company, “only one out of three new hires in 2021” stayed with the company for more than 90 days.

    What’s interesting, in the wake of this report, is Amazon’s efforts to thin its employee numbers through attrition. The company revealed in August that it was using attrition to reduce its headcount by 100,000. One can’t help but wonder if Amazon would have been better off retraining some of those individuals and moving them into other roles since it clearly has a hard time attracting and keeping new talent.

    Many companies are struggling with employee retention. The pandemic forever changed the nature of the workforce, with many employees demanding more freedom and flexibility than ever before. Amazon’s issues, however, are far worse than the industry average, and there doesn’t appear to be a solution in sight.

  • Equifax Fires Dozens for Having a Second Job

    Equifax Fires Dozens for Having a Second Job

    Equifax is cracking down on its employees, using its vast resources to ferret out and fire dozes for having a second job.

    Equifax is one of the biggest credit monitoring and reporting agency. The company is reportedly cracking down on remote employees, firing at least two dozen for having a second job, according to Business Insider.

    “We expect our team to be fully dedicated to EFX and have one role …their job at EFX,” CEO Mark Begor wrote in a company-wide email seen by Insider. “I am sure you are as disappointed as I am.”

    The company used the noncompete agreement employees signed as the basis for firing them, although some say they never broke the agreement.

    “They said, ‘when you started, you signed a paper, an agreement, for noncompete work,’” said one person, maintaining his “side hustle” did not compete with Equifax. “I was like ‘OK, but I wasn’t working in the same field.’”

    The company also has access to a vast wealth of payroll and employment data, access for which it is already under fire. The company evidently used those employment records to find employees with side jobs.

    Given the state of the economy and the trouble people have making ends meet, it’s Equifax is not going to win any goodwill or popularity contests for firing people that take on a second job, especially one that doesn’t compete with Equifax’s business. This incident will also likely spur further calls for action regarding the vast amount of data the company is collecting.

    Begor’s statement that “I am sure you are as disappointed as I am,” may come back to haunt him.